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Quantifying Human-Mediated Carbon Cycle Feedbacks

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079350· OSTI ID:1480629
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), College Park, MD (United States)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Changes in land and ocean carbon storage in response to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and associated climate change, known as the concentration–carbon and climate–carbon feedbacks, are principal controls on the response of the climate system to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Such feedbacks have typically been quantified in the context of natural ecosystems, but land management activities are also responsive to future atmospheric carbon and climate changes. Here we show that inclusion of such human–driven responses within an Earth system model shifts both the terrestrial concentration–carbon and climate–carbon feedbacks toward increased carbon storage. Furthermore, we introduce a conceptual framework for decomposing these changes into separate concentration–land cover, climate–land cover, and land cover–carbon effects, providing a parsimonious means to diagnose sources of variation across numerical models capable of estimating such feedbacks.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1480629
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1562907
OSTI ID: 1479511
OSTI ID: 1483268
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--133018
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 20 Vol. 45; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (2)

No Proportional Increase of Terrestrial Gross Carbon Sequestration From the Greening Earth journal August 2019
A review of the major drivers of the terrestrial carbon uptake: model-based assessments, consensus, and uncertainties journal September 2019

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58 GEOSCIENCES
carbon cycle feedbacks
climate impacts on agriculture
coupled human and natural systems