Land–atmosphere feedbacks exacerbate concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity
Abstract
Compound extremes such as cooccurring soil drought (low soil moisture) and atmospheric aridity (high vapor pressure deficit) can be disastrous for natural and societal systems. Soil drought and atmospheric aridity are 2 main physiological stressors driving widespread vegetation mortality and reduced terrestrial carbon uptake. Here, we empirically demonstrate that strong negative coupling between soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit occurs globally, indicating high probability of cooccurring soil drought and atmospheric aridity. Using the Global Land Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE)-CMIP5 experiment, we further show that concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity are greatly exacerbated by land–atmosphere feedbacks. The feedback of soil drought on the atmosphere is largely responsible for enabling atmospheric aridity extremes. In addition, the soil moisture–precipitation feedback acts to amplify precipitation and soil moisture deficits in most regions. CMIP5 models further show that the frequency of concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity enhanced by land–atmosphere feedbacks is projected to increase in the 21st century. Significantly, land–atmosphere feedbacks will greatly increase the intensity of both soil drought and atmospheric aridity beyond that expected from changes in mean climate alone.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[1];
[5];
- Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States)
- Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
- Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States); NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies, New York, NY (United States)
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht (Germany)
- Inst. for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Zürich (Switzerland)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1581364
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 116; Journal Issue: 38; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- National Academy of Sciences
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; soil moisture; vapor pressure deficit; compound extreme events; GLACE-CMIP5
Citation Formats
Zhou, Sha, Williams, A. Park, Berg, Alexis M., Cook, Benjamin I., Zhang, Yao, Hagemann, Stefan, Lorenz, Ruth, Seneviratne, Sonia I., and Gentine, Pierre. Land–atmosphere feedbacks exacerbate concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1904955116.
Zhou, Sha, Williams, A. Park, Berg, Alexis M., Cook, Benjamin I., Zhang, Yao, Hagemann, Stefan, Lorenz, Ruth, Seneviratne, Sonia I., & Gentine, Pierre. Land–atmosphere feedbacks exacerbate concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904955116
Zhou, Sha, Williams, A. Park, Berg, Alexis M., Cook, Benjamin I., Zhang, Yao, Hagemann, Stefan, Lorenz, Ruth, Seneviratne, Sonia I., and Gentine, Pierre. Tue .
"Land–atmosphere feedbacks exacerbate concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904955116. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1581364.
@article{osti_1581364,
title = {Land–atmosphere feedbacks exacerbate concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity},
author = {Zhou, Sha and Williams, A. Park and Berg, Alexis M. and Cook, Benjamin I. and Zhang, Yao and Hagemann, Stefan and Lorenz, Ruth and Seneviratne, Sonia I. and Gentine, Pierre},
abstractNote = {Compound extremes such as cooccurring soil drought (low soil moisture) and atmospheric aridity (high vapor pressure deficit) can be disastrous for natural and societal systems. Soil drought and atmospheric aridity are 2 main physiological stressors driving widespread vegetation mortality and reduced terrestrial carbon uptake. Here, we empirically demonstrate that strong negative coupling between soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit occurs globally, indicating high probability of cooccurring soil drought and atmospheric aridity. Using the Global Land Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE)-CMIP5 experiment, we further show that concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity are greatly exacerbated by land–atmosphere feedbacks. The feedback of soil drought on the atmosphere is largely responsible for enabling atmospheric aridity extremes. In addition, the soil moisture–precipitation feedback acts to amplify precipitation and soil moisture deficits in most regions. CMIP5 models further show that the frequency of concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity enhanced by land–atmosphere feedbacks is projected to increase in the 21st century. Significantly, land–atmosphere feedbacks will greatly increase the intensity of both soil drought and atmospheric aridity beyond that expected from changes in mean climate alone.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1904955116},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 38,
volume = 116,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Sep 03 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Tue Sep 03 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
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