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Asymmetric temperature responses to soil moisture drought legacies under anthropogenic forcing

Li, Jun ; Wu, Minchao LU orcid ; Liao, Weilin ; Tan, Xuezhi ; Lai, Chengguang ; Wang, Zhaoli ; Cheng, Xiangju ; Liu, Xiaoping ; Tang, Hongwu and Peñuelas, Josep (2026) In Nature Communications 17.
Abstract
As anthropogenic forcing intensifies, soil moisture droughts have become prevalent across many regions. Soil moisture anomalies can influence near-surface air temperature by modulating both energy and carbon fluxes. However, the annual temperature response to soil moisture anomalies in the year following a soil moisture drought remains unclear. Here, we show that annual soil water loss in the year after soil moisture droughts induces a larger annual warming effect than the annual cooling from an equivalent water gain. This asymmetric response arises only when the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing are included, where vegetation is more strongly suppressed after soil moisture drought than enhanced after soil moisture gaining,... (More)
As anthropogenic forcing intensifies, soil moisture droughts have become prevalent across many regions. Soil moisture anomalies can influence near-surface air temperature by modulating both energy and carbon fluxes. However, the annual temperature response to soil moisture anomalies in the year following a soil moisture drought remains unclear. Here, we show that annual soil water loss in the year after soil moisture droughts induces a larger annual warming effect than the annual cooling from an equivalent water gain. This asymmetric response arises only when the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing are included, where vegetation is more strongly suppressed after soil moisture drought than enhanced after soil moisture gaining, contributing to reduced transpiration and carbon uptake that collectively amplify warming. More than 60% of global land areas exhibit the asymmetry. Our findings suggest that past climate extremes may accelerate future warming by impairing vegetation’s capacity to regulate biophysical and biogeochemical processes. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Communications
volume
17
article number
8454
pages
8 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:42426006
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-026-75496-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7613cd90-43d3-4616-a129-6b23e8fb91c6
date added to LUP
2026-08-21 12:18:45
date last changed
2026-08-22 03:00:02
@article{7613cd90-43d3-4616-a129-6b23e8fb91c6,
  abstract     = {{As anthropogenic forcing intensifies, soil moisture droughts have become prevalent across many regions. Soil moisture anomalies can influence near-surface air temperature by modulating both energy and carbon fluxes. However, the annual temperature response to soil moisture anomalies in the year following a soil moisture drought remains unclear. Here, we show that annual soil water loss in the year after soil moisture droughts induces a larger annual warming effect than the annual cooling from an equivalent water gain. This asymmetric response arises only when the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing are included, where vegetation is more strongly suppressed after soil moisture drought than enhanced after soil moisture gaining, contributing to reduced transpiration and carbon uptake that collectively amplify warming. More than 60% of global land areas exhibit the asymmetry. Our findings suggest that past climate extremes may accelerate future warming by impairing vegetation’s capacity to regulate biophysical and biogeochemical processes.}},
  author       = {{Li, Jun and Wu, Minchao and Liao, Weilin and Tan, Xuezhi and Lai, Chengguang and Wang, Zhaoli and Cheng, Xiangju and Liu, Xiaoping and Tang, Hongwu and Peñuelas, Josep}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{Asymmetric temperature responses to soil moisture drought legacies under anthropogenic forcing}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75496-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-026-75496-6}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}