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CO2 and CH4 exchanges between land ecosystems and the atmosphere in northern high latitudes over the 21st century
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
Terrestrial ecosystems of the northern high latitudes (above 50°N) exchange large amounts of CO2 and CH4 with the atmosphere each year. Here we use a process-based model to estimate the budget of CO2 and CH4 of the region for current climate conditions and for future scenarios by considering effects of permafrost dynamics, CO2 fertilization of photosynthesis and fire. We find that currently the region is a net source of carbon to the atmosphere at 276 Tg C yr-1. We project that throughout the 21st century, the region will most likely continue as a net source of carbon and the source will increase by up to 473 Tg C yr−1 by the end of the century compared to the current emissions. However our coupled carbon and climate model simulations show that these emissions will exert relatively small radiative forcing on global climate system compared to large amounts of anthropogenic emissions.
Received 23 May 2006; accepted 2 August 2006; published 15 September 2006.
Citation: (2006), CO2 and CH4 exchanges between land ecosystems and the atmosphere in northern high latitudes over the 21st century, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L17403, doi:10.1029/2006GL026972.
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