Global warming could cause Canadian forests to absorb more carbon
Global warming could cause Canadian forests to absorb more carbon
mongabay.com
February 19, 2007
Researchers say they have found links between seasonal temperature changes and the uptake and loss of carbon dioxide.
Speaking last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Francisco, Kevin Robert Gurney, the associate director of the Climate Change Research Center at Purdue University, said that boreal forests in North America “removes carbon from the Earth’s atmosphere during years in which the region experiences warm Spring temperatures and rainfall,” according to a statement from Purdue. Boreal forests in Asia exhibit the opposite response, emitting carbon in years with above average fall temperatures and rainfall.
“A warming Canada may mean Canadian forests will act as a sink to atmospheric CO2,” said Gurney, “while boreal Asia could lose ecosystem carbon to the atmosphere as the regions warms.”
Gurney also found links between boreal forests and the atmospheric phenomenon knows as el Niño.
 Kevin Robert Gurney |
“The greater uptake in Springtime Boreal North American in warm, wet years appears to be related to the El Nino/Southern Oscillation,” said Gurney. “The teleconnection is remarkable, you can see the tropical pacific temperature patterns associated with El Nino travel north and impact boreal North America, inducing greater uptake”.
Gurney noted that temperature and precipitations “are not the only drivers of ecosystem carbon exchange,” saying that human factors such as logging and fire can also have an impact.
Gurney said his work should help modelers make better projections about the regional impact of climate change.
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This article is based on a news release from Purdue University.