Why Does Amazon Precipitation Decrease When Tropical Forests Respond to Increasing CO2 ?
Abstract
Earth system models predict a zonal dipole of precipitation change over tropical South America, with decreases over the Amazon and increases over the Andes. Much of this has been attributed to the physiological response of the rainforest to elevated CO2, which describes a basin-wide reduction in stomatal conductance and transpiration. While robust in Earth system model experiments, details of the underlying atmospheric mechanism—specifically how it evolves in the context of land-atmosphere interaction and the diurnal cycle—are unresolved. We investigate this using idealized model simulations and find that within 24 hr of a CO2 increase, changes occur over the Amazon that engender synoptic timescale feedbacks. Decreased evapotranspiration from the rainforest throttles near-surface moisture, inducing a drier, warmer, and deeper boundary layer. Above this, enhanced turbulent diffusivity increases vapor in the lower free troposphere. Together, these processes reduce convective activity and cause immediate decreases in Amazon rainfall. Over the synoptic timescale, these changes leave behind lower tropospheric moisture, which is advected westward by the background jet and increases Andean precipitation. This produces a dipole of precipitation change consistent across global and regional models as well as parameterized and resolved convection, though details are sensitive to model topography and boundary layer formulation. The mechanismmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[2];
[1]
- Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
- Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States); Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1611738
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012152; SC0019459
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Earth's Future
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 7; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2328-4277
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Geology; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Citation Formats
Langenbrunner, B., Pritchard, M. S., Kooperman, G. J., and Randerson, J. T. Why Does Amazon Precipitation Decrease When Tropical Forests Respond to Increasing CO2 ?. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1029/2018ef001026.
Langenbrunner, B., Pritchard, M. S., Kooperman, G. J., & Randerson, J. T. Why Does Amazon Precipitation Decrease When Tropical Forests Respond to Increasing CO2 ?. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018ef001026
Langenbrunner, B., Pritchard, M. S., Kooperman, G. J., and Randerson, J. T. Fri .
"Why Does Amazon Precipitation Decrease When Tropical Forests Respond to Increasing CO2 ?". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018ef001026. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1611738.
@article{osti_1611738,
title = {Why Does Amazon Precipitation Decrease When Tropical Forests Respond to Increasing CO2 ?},
author = {Langenbrunner, B. and Pritchard, M. S. and Kooperman, G. J. and Randerson, J. T.},
abstractNote = {Earth system models predict a zonal dipole of precipitation change over tropical South America, with decreases over the Amazon and increases over the Andes. Much of this has been attributed to the physiological response of the rainforest to elevated CO2, which describes a basin-wide reduction in stomatal conductance and transpiration. While robust in Earth system model experiments, details of the underlying atmospheric mechanism—specifically how it evolves in the context of land-atmosphere interaction and the diurnal cycle—are unresolved. We investigate this using idealized model simulations and find that within 24 hr of a CO2 increase, changes occur over the Amazon that engender synoptic timescale feedbacks. Decreased evapotranspiration from the rainforest throttles near-surface moisture, inducing a drier, warmer, and deeper boundary layer. Above this, enhanced turbulent diffusivity increases vapor in the lower free troposphere. Together, these processes reduce convective activity and cause immediate decreases in Amazon rainfall. Over the synoptic timescale, these changes leave behind lower tropospheric moisture, which is advected westward by the background jet and increases Andean precipitation. This produces a dipole of precipitation change consistent across global and regional models as well as parameterized and resolved convection, though details are sensitive to model topography and boundary layer formulation. The mechanism reported here stresses the importance of fast timescale processes affecting stability over a period of hours that can influence longer-term vegetation-climate interactions. These results help clarify the Amazon's physiological response to rising CO2 and provide insight into possible causes of historical model biases and end-of-century uncertainty in this region.},
doi = {10.1029/2018ef001026},
journal = {Earth's Future},
number = 4,
volume = 7,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Fri Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
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