Projected increase in continental runoff due to plant responses to increasing carbon dioxide

Richard A. Betts (), Olivier Boucher, Matthew Collins, Peter M. Cox, Peter D. Falloon, Nicola Gedney, Deborah L. Hemming, Chris Huntingford, Chris D. Jones, David M. H. Sexton and Mark J. Webb
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Richard A. Betts: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK
Olivier Boucher: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK
Matthew Collins: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK
Peter M. Cox: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK
Peter D. Falloon: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK
Nicola Gedney: Met Office, Joint Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Research
Deborah L. Hemming: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK
Chris Huntingford: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK
Chris D. Jones: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK
David M. H. Sexton: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK
Mark J. Webb: Met Office Hadley Centre, Fitzroy Road, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK

Nature, 2007, vol. 448, issue 7157, 1037-1041

Abstract: Watering the plants An assessment of the contribution of plant physiological effects to future changes in continental water runoff suggests that flooding risk under future global warming scenarios may be greater than was assumed. The stomatal pores that allow CO2 to enter plants and water to escape open less widely when CO2 concentrations are high, reducing water loss from the plant and thus leaving more water at the land surface. This effect may have contributed to the increase in continental runoff observed during the twentieth century, but most predictions of future changes in runoff don't account for it. The concept of 'CO2 equivalent', widely used to compare the effects of greenhouse gases on climate, does not account for this effect, so it may need to be revisited in light of these findings.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06045

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