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Joint optimization of land carbon uptake and albedo can help achieve moderate instantaneous and long-term cooling effects

Graf, Alexander ; Wohlfahrt, Georg ; Aranda-Barranco, Sergio ; Arriga, Nicola ; Brümmer, Christian ; Ceschia, Eric ; Ciais, Philippe ; Desai, Ankur R. ; Di Lonardo, Sara and Gharun, Mana , et al. (2023) In Communications Earth and Environment 4(1).
Abstract

Both carbon dioxide uptake and albedo of the land surface affect global climate. However, climate change mitigation by increasing carbon uptake can cause a warming trade-off by decreasing albedo, with most research focusing on afforestation and its interaction with snow. Here, we present carbon uptake and albedo observations from 176 globally distributed flux stations. We demonstrate a gradual decline in maximum achievable annual albedo as carbon uptake increases, even within subgroups of non-forest and snow-free ecosystems. Based on a paired-site permutation approach, we quantify the likely impact of land use on carbon uptake and albedo. Shifting to the maximum attainable carbon uptake at each site would likely cause moderate net... (More)

Both carbon dioxide uptake and albedo of the land surface affect global climate. However, climate change mitigation by increasing carbon uptake can cause a warming trade-off by decreasing albedo, with most research focusing on afforestation and its interaction with snow. Here, we present carbon uptake and albedo observations from 176 globally distributed flux stations. We demonstrate a gradual decline in maximum achievable annual albedo as carbon uptake increases, even within subgroups of non-forest and snow-free ecosystems. Based on a paired-site permutation approach, we quantify the likely impact of land use on carbon uptake and albedo. Shifting to the maximum attainable carbon uptake at each site would likely cause moderate net global warming for the first approximately 20 years, followed by a strong cooling effect. A balanced policy co-optimizing carbon uptake and albedo is possible that avoids warming on any timescale, but results in a weaker long-term cooling effect.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Communications Earth and Environment
volume
4
issue
1
article number
298
publisher
Springer Nature
external identifiers
  • scopus:85169132523
ISSN
2662-4435
DOI
10.1038/s43247-023-00958-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
40f02829-5b8d-4e07-8aaf-61517af7106b
date added to LUP
2023-10-18 15:18:11
date last changed
2023-10-18 15:18:11
@article{40f02829-5b8d-4e07-8aaf-61517af7106b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Both carbon dioxide uptake and albedo of the land surface affect global climate. However, climate change mitigation by increasing carbon uptake can cause a warming trade-off by decreasing albedo, with most research focusing on afforestation and its interaction with snow. Here, we present carbon uptake and albedo observations from 176 globally distributed flux stations. We demonstrate a gradual decline in maximum achievable annual albedo as carbon uptake increases, even within subgroups of non-forest and snow-free ecosystems. Based on a paired-site permutation approach, we quantify the likely impact of land use on carbon uptake and albedo. Shifting to the maximum attainable carbon uptake at each site would likely cause moderate net global warming for the first approximately 20 years, followed by a strong cooling effect. A balanced policy co-optimizing carbon uptake and albedo is possible that avoids warming on any timescale, but results in a weaker long-term cooling effect.</p>}},
  author       = {{Graf, Alexander and Wohlfahrt, Georg and Aranda-Barranco, Sergio and Arriga, Nicola and Brümmer, Christian and Ceschia, Eric and Ciais, Philippe and Desai, Ankur R. and Di Lonardo, Sara and Gharun, Mana and Grünwald, Thomas and Hörtnagl, Lukas and Kasak, Kuno and Klosterhalfen, Anne and Knohl, Alexander and Kowalska, Natalia and Leuchner, Michael and Lindroth, Anders and Mauder, Matthias and Migliavacca, Mirco and Morel, Alexandra C. and Pfennig, Andreas and Poorter, Hendrik and Terán, Christian Poppe and Reitz, Oliver and Rebmann, Corinna and Sanchez-Azofeifa, Arturo and Schmidt, Marius and Šigut, Ladislav and Tomelleri, Enrico and Yu, Ke and Varlagin, Andrej and Vereecken, Harry}},
  issn         = {{2662-4435}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Nature}},
  series       = {{Communications Earth and Environment}},
  title        = {{Joint optimization of land carbon uptake and albedo can help achieve moderate instantaneous and long-term cooling effects}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00958-4}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s43247-023-00958-4}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}