Download or read book Regional Climate Change Ecosystem Responses and Climate Feedbacks written by Benjamin Issac Cook and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I use empirical/statistical models and physically based general circulation models to assess the capacity for the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to influence terrestrial ecosystems, and the potential for those ecosystems to feedback to the climate system. AO warming leads to modest reductions in Eurasian carbon stocks; ∼17 Pg carbon are lost to the atmosphere, primarily from increased soil decomposition. Precipitation reductions in southern Africa associated with increased frequency of El Nino events lead to a reduction in tree cover and expansion of grasslands in the north and a reduction in grass cover in drier areas. Here half the carbon cycle changes are driven by the loss of tree cover, leading to a net loss of ∼5 Pg of carbon to the atmosphere. Over southern Africa, positive soil moisture anomalies lead to reduced precipitation through enhanced subsidence and reduced moisture convergence. Higher snow cover alone in Eurasia leads to minor albedo increases and moderate localized cooling (3°-5°C), mostly at very high latitudes (>70°N) and during the spring season. When vegetation is allowed to interact, increased snow cover leads to southward retreat of boreal vegetation, widespread cooling, and persistent snow cover over much of the boreal region during the boreal summer, with cold anomalies of up to 15°C. In southern Africa, the feedback experiments suggest a negative feedback between soil moisture and precipitation over the same area, implying this region may be resistant to externally forced changes in precipitation. In Eurasia, a persistent high phase of the AO leads to winter warming, but the feedback response is complicated. Warming during this season has been associated with increased snowfall, which could increase snow cover and albedo, countering the AO warming. Conversely, increased temperatures could lead to increased snow melting and decreased albedo, amplifying the AO warming.
Download or read book The Regional Impacts of Climate Change written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Working Group II. and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Download or read book Climate Change written by The Royal Society and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2014-02-26 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate Change: Evidence and Causes is a jointly produced publication of The US National Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society. Written by a UK-US team of leading climate scientists and reviewed by climate scientists and others, the publication is intended as a brief, readable reference document for decision makers, policy makers, educators, and other individuals seeking authoritative information on the some of the questions that continue to be asked. Climate Change makes clear what is well-established and where understanding is still developing. It echoes and builds upon the long history of climate-related work from both national academies, as well as on the newest climate-change assessment from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It touches on current areas of active debate and ongoing research, such as the link between ocean heat content and the rate of warming.
Download or read book Advancing the Science of Climate Change written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-01-10 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for-and in many cases is already affecting-a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the Science of Climate Change, part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America's Climate Choices. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never closed, the book shows that hypotheses about climate change are supported by multiple lines of evidence and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations. As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute through research that improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change and also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The book identifies decisions being made in 12 sectors, ranging from agriculture to transportation, to identify decisions being made in response to climate change. Advancing the Science of Climate Change calls for a single federal entity or program to coordinate a national, multidisciplinary research effort aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this scientific enterprise. In addition, leaders of federal climate research should redouble efforts to deploy a comprehensive climate observing system, improve climate models and other analytical tools, invest in human capital, and improve linkages between research and decisions by forming partnerships with action-oriented programs.
Download or read book Frontiers in Understanding Climate Change and Polar Ecosystems written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-06-02 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The polar regions are experiencing rapid changes in climate. These changes are causing observable ecological impacts of various types and degrees of severity at all ecosystem levels, including society. Even larger changes and more significant impacts are anticipated. As species respond to changing environments over time, their interactions with the physical world and other organisms can also change. This chain of interactions can trigger cascades of impacts throughout entire ecosystems. Evaluating the interrelated physical, chemical, biological, and societal components of polar ecosystems is essential to understanding their vulnerability and resilience to climate forcing. The Polar Research Board (PRB) organized a workshop to address these issues. Experts gathered from a variety of disciplines with knowledge of both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Participants were challenged to consider what is currently known about climate change and polar ecosystems and to identify the next big questions in the field. A set of interdisciplinary "frontier questions" emerged from the workshop discussions as important topics to be addressed in the coming decades. To begin to address these questions, workshop participants discussed the need for holistic, interdisciplinary systems approach to understanding polar ecosystem responses to climate change. As an outcome of the workshop, participants brainstormed methods and technologies that are crucial to advance the understanding of polar ecosystems and to promote the next generation of polar research. These include new and emerging technologies, sustained long-term observations, data synthesis and management, and data dissemination and outreach.
Download or read book Ecosystems and Climate Change Research Priorities for the U S Climate Change Science Program written by Palmer A. Lucier (M.) and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Report summarizes and interprets workshop discussions focusing on three areas: Feedback between ecological systems and global change; Consequences of global change for ecological systems; Sustaining and improving ecological systems in the face of global change.
Download or read book Understanding Climate Change Feedbacks written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-01-02 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the past decade, scientists have learned much about the complex natural processes that influence climate variability and change, and our ability to model climate has increased significantly. We also have begun to better identify those parts of the climate system that are particularly important and not well understood and that therefore limit our ability to project the future evolution of Earth's climate. One of these critical areas is our understanding of the role of feedbacks in the climate system and their role in determining climate sensitivity. Feedbacks are processes in the climate system that can either amplify or dampen the system's response to changed forcings. This study looks at what is known and not known about climate change feedbacks and seeks to identify the feedback processes most in need of improved understanding. It identifies key observations needed to monitor and understand climate feedbacks, discusses ways to evaluate progress in understanding climate feedbacks, recommends ways to improve climate modeling and analysis for climate feedbacks research, and identifies priority areas for research.
Download or read book Climate Change Science written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-06-28 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The warming of the Earth has been the subject of intense debate and concern for many scientists, policy-makers, and citizens for at least the past decade. Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions, a new report by a committee of the National Research Council, characterizes the global warming trend over the last 100 years, and examines what may be in store for the 21st century and the extent to which warming may be attributable to human activity.
Download or read book The Global Carbon Cycle written by Christopher B. Field and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While a number of gases are implicated in global warming, carbon dioxide is the most important contributor, and in one sense the entire phenomena can be seen as a human-induced perturbation of the carbon cycle. The Global Carbon Cycle offers a scientific assessment of the state of current knowledge of the carbon cycle by the world's leading scientists sponsored by SCOPE and the Global Carbon Project, and other international partners. It gives an introductory over-view of the carbon cycle, with multidisciplinary contributions covering biological, physical, and social science aspects. Included are 29 chapters covering topics including: an assessment of carbon-climate-human interactions; a portfolio of carbon management options; spatial and temporal distribution of sources and sinks of carbon dioxide; socio-economic driving forces of emissions scenarios. Throughout, contributors emphasize that all parts of the carbon cycle are interrelated, and only by developing a framework that considers the full set of feedbacks will we be able to achieve a thorough understanding and develop effective management strategies. The Global Carbon Cycle edited by Christopher B. Field and Michael R. Raupach is part of the Rapid Assessment Publication series produced by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), in an effort to quickly disseminate the collective knowledge of the world's leading experts on topics of pressing environmental concern.
Download or read book Climate Change and Microbiome Dynamics written by Javid Ahmad Parray and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-01-01 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides an overview relevant to various biological mechanisms that regulate carbon exchanges between the major components and their response to climate change. Climate change has a significant impact on people's lives, energy demand, food security, etc. The soil microbial ecology is vital for assessing terrestrial and aquatic carbon cycles and climate feedback. However, the primary concern is the complexity of the soil microbial community and its severely affected functions due to the climate and other global changes. Global warming comprises an assessment of the dynamic interactions and feedback between microbes, plants, and their physical environment due to climate change. The book will address the need to use a multifactor experimental approach to understand how soil microorganisms and their activities adapt to climate change and the implications of carbon cycle feedback. The most pressing concern is a clearer understanding of the biological factors that regulate carbon exchanges between land, oceans, and the atmosphere and how these exchanges will respond to climate change via climate–ecosystem feedbacks, which could augment or quell regional and global climate change. Terrestrial ecosystems play an important role in climate feedback as they produce and absorb greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides. They also strongly contribute to storing enormous amounts of carbon in living vegetation and soils, rendering them a significant global carbon sink. If climate change projections are realistic, such a rapid increase in carbon loss from soil could exacerbate the soil carbon cycle feedback. The book will determine the role of microbial feedback in regulating soil-land-atmosphere carbon exchange under changing climatic conditions at the regional and global levels. The current book will also focus on recent research designed to use beneficial microbes such as plant growth-promoting microorganisms, fungi, endophytic microbes, and others to improve understanding of the interaction and their potential role in promoting advanced management for sustainable agricultural solutions. Understanding the influence on the native microbiome, such as the distribution of methanogens and methanotrophs, nutritional content, microbial biomass, and other factors, is becoming increasingly crucial to establishing climate-resilient agriculture.
Download or read book Ecosystem Responses and Feedbacks to Abrupt Climate Change written by Paul A. Higgins and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Abrupt Climate Change written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-04-23 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The climate record for the past 100,000 years clearly indicates that the climate system has undergone periodic-and often extreme-shifts, sometimes in as little as a decade or less. The causes of abrupt climate changes have not been clearly established, but the triggering of events is likely to be the result of multiple natural processes. Abrupt climate changes of the magnitude seen in the past would have far-reaching implications for human society and ecosystems, including major impacts on energy consumption and water supply demands. Could such a change happen again? Are human activities exacerbating the likelihood of abrupt climate change? What are the potential societal consequences of such a change? Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises looks at the current scientific evidence and theoretical understanding to describe what is currently known about abrupt climate change, including patterns and magnitudes, mechanisms, and probability of occurrence. It identifies critical knowledge gaps concerning the potential for future abrupt changes, including those aspects of change most important to society and economies, and outlines a research strategy to close those gaps. Based on the best and most current research available, this book surveys the history of climate change and makes a series of specific recommendations for the future.
Download or read book Climate Variability and Ecosystem Response at Long Term Ecological Research Sites written by David Greenland and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-10-09 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume in the Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series would present the work that has been done and the understanding and database that have been developed by work on climate change done at all the LTER sites. Global climate change is a central issue facing the world, which is being worked on by a very large number of scientists across a wide range of fields. The LTER sites hold some of the best available data measuring long term impacts and changes in the environment, and the research done at these sites has not previously been made widely available to the broader climate change research community. This book should appeal reasonably widely outside the ecological community, and because it pulls together information from all 20 research sites, it should capture the interest of virtually the entire LTER research community.
Download or read book A Systems Analysis of the Global Boreal Forest written by Herman H. Shugart and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-03-07 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world's boreal forests, which lie to the south of the Arctic, are considered to be the Earth's most significant terrestrial ecosystems. A panel of ecologists here provide a synthesis of the important patterns and processes which occur in boreal forests and review the principal mechanisms which control the forest's patterns.
Download or read book Regional Impacts of Global Climate Change written by S. J. Ghan and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wetland Ecosystems written by William J. Mitsch and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-04-13 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New focused text introduces readers to wetland ecosystems and systems approaches to studying wetlands With its comprehensive coverage of wetland science, management, and restoration, Mitsch and Gosselink's Wetlands has been the premier reference on wetlands for more than two decades. Now, the coverage of specific wetland ecosystem types from earlier editions of this acclaimed work has been updated, revised, and supplemented with additional content in order to create this new text focusing exclusively on wetland ecosystems. This book now complements Wetlands, Fourth Edition. Following an introduction to ecosystems in general and wetland ecosystems in particular, Wetland Ecosystems examines the major types of wetlands found throughout the world: coastal wetlands, freshwater marshes and forested swamps, and peatlands. The final chapter reviews three fundamental systems approaches to studying wetlands: mesocosms, full-scale experimental ecosystems, and mathematical modeling. This new text features: Updated descriptions of the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and biology of the main types of wetlands found in the world New content introducing general ecosystems, wetland ecosystems, whole ecosystem and mesocosm experiments with wetlands, and systems ecology and modeling A detailed description of the ecosystem services provided by wetlands A broad international scope, including many examples of wetlands located outside North America Two new coauthors offering new perspectives and additional insights into the latest ecosystem and modeling techniques An abundance of illustrations helps readers understand how different biological communities and the abiotic environment in wetland ecosystems interact and function. Tables and text boxes provide at-a-glance summaries of key information. Lastly, each chapter concludes with a list of recommended readings. This text has been designed as an introduction for students and professionals in wetland ecology and management, general ecology, environmental science, and natural resource management.
Download or read book Responses to Climate Change in the Cold Biomes written by Hans J. De Boeck and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2019-06-05 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is thought to be especially relevant to ecosystems in the cold biomes. Observed warming has been higher in cold climates through various positive feedbacks, especially declining snow and ice cover, and climate projections indicate further rapid warming in the decades to come. Temperature change can have profound impacts in cold biome ecosystems, either directly in terms of impacts on physiology or growing season length, or indirectly via changes in nutrient cycling. The regions focused on here are the (sub)arctic and the (sub)alpine areas, both characterized by short growing seasons and low annual temperatures, but with different radiation environments depending on latitude. Climate change can have impacts in all seasons. Increased spring temperatures can accelerate snowmelt, leading to an earlier onset of the growing season, while warmer summers may stimulate primary productivity through temperatures closer to metabolic optima and/or increased mineralization rates. Winter warming can lead to the vegetation being damaged because of exposure to harsh frost without insulating snow cover. In all of this, concurrent changes in precipitation also play an important role: increased snowfall can buffer warming-induced advances in snowmelt, a higher ratio of rain to snow can greatly accelerate snowmelt in winter and spring, and summer drought may reverse growth-stimulation by warming directly (drought stress) or indirectly (e.g. impaired nutrient uptake). Micro-climate is crucial in these systems and requires particular attention as it can vary widely across the landscape, creating different growing environments in the space of a few meters or even less. Interest in cold region responses to climate change does not only arise from the fact that they harbor unique ecosystems that may be endangered, but also because they store large amounts of carbon that may be released under climate change. However, research is challenging because of the remoteness of many of these areas and the harsh conditions during much of the year. In spite of this, some studies have been carried out over an extensive period, spanning decades and yielding information on for example plant community reorganization (including invasions), and changes in phenology above- and/or belowground. Other studies focus on shorter term effects, such as impacts of heat waves, late frosts or other anomalous weather, including longer term (after-) effects that may differ drastically from other regions because of the short growing season in cold climates. Ultimately, models are used to predict future changes in vegetation along latitudinal or elevational gradients, although phenology and microclimatic variation may pose particular challenges. Contributions to this Research Topic focus on climate change, encompassing both changes in the mean (gradual warming) and variability (heat waves, altered precipitation distribution) in cold biomes. The Topic contains reports on observed changes or events, but also research making use of experimentally imposed environmental changes. The focus is varied, including phenology, physiology, soil and vegetation science and biogeochemistry, with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of observed and expected responses to climate change in cold biome ecosystems.
