Biophysical impacts of northern vegetation changes on seasonal warming patterns

Xu Lian, Sujong Jeong (), Chang-Eui Park, Hao Xu, Laurent Z. X. Li, Tao Wang, Pierre Gentine, Josep Peñuelas and Shilong Piao ()
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Xu Lian: Peking University
Sujong Jeong: Seoul National University
Chang-Eui Park: Korea Institute of Science and Technology
Hao Xu: Peking University
Laurent Z. X. Li: Ecole Polytechnique
Tao Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Pierre Gentine: Columbia University
Josep Peñuelas: CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles
Shilong Piao: Peking University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The seasonal greening of Northern Hemisphere (NH) ecosystems, due to extended growing periods and enhanced photosynthetic activity, could modify near-surface warming by perturbing land-atmosphere energy exchanges, yet this biophysical control on warming seasonality is underexplored. By performing experiments with a coupled land-atmosphere model, here we show that summer greening effectively dampens NH warming by −0.15 ± 0.03 °C for 1982–2014 due to enhanced evapotranspiration. However, greening generates weak temperature changes in spring (+0.02 ± 0.06 °C) and autumn (−0.05 ± 0.05 °C), because the evaporative cooling is counterbalanced by radiative warming from albedo and water vapor feedbacks. The dwindling evaporative cooling towards cool seasons is also supported by state-of-the-art Earth system models. Moreover, greening-triggered energy imbalance is propagated forward by atmospheric circulation to subsequent seasons and causes sizable time-lagged climate effects. Overall, greening makes winter warmer and summer cooler, attenuating the seasonal amplitude of NH temperature. These findings demonstrate complex tradeoffs and linkages of vegetation-climate feedbacks among seasons.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31671-z

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