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Highlights in carbon science

These journal articles have made a recent contribution to the advancement in understanding of the carbon balance and the analysis of the carbon-climate-human system.

Journal articles with full text and related press information links

Autumn Warming

Carbon sink capacity in northern forests reduced
The duration of the net carbon uptake period (CUP) in northern ecosystems has on average decreased due to warmer autumn temperatures. Simulations and observations indicate that northern terrestrial ecosystems may currently lose carbon dioxide in response to autumn warming, with a sensitivity of about
0.2 PgC °C-1, offsetting 90% of the increased carbon dioxide uptake during spring.
Coal Dredge CSIRO Accelerating Atmospheric CO2 growth
This study finds that the recent swift increase in atmospheric CO2 is due to faster economic growth coupled with a halt in carbon intensity reductions, in addition to natural sinks removing a smaller proportion of emissions from the air. Efficiency of natural sinks to remove emissions from human activities has been declining for 50 years.
Industrial Sunset

Drivers of accelerating CO2 emissions
A new analysis shows that carbon intensity in the world economy is increasing. While emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are accelerating worldwide, we are gaining fewer economic benefits from each tonne of fossil fuel burned.
Ocean Wave, British Antarctic Survey

Saturation of the Southern ocean CO2 sink
A four-year study by scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA), British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry reveals that an increase in winds over the Southern Ocean, caused by greenhouse gases and ozone depletion, has led to a release of stored CO2 into the atmosphere and is preventing further absorption of the greenhouse gas.
Forest Burn Scar Tropical Forests and Climate Policy
A tropical forests and climate policy study in the journal Science highlights the importance of slowing deforestation in tropical countries in the global effort to avert dangerous climate change.

Journal articles

"One emergent property is clear across time scales; atmospheric CO2 can increase quickly, but the return to lower levels through natural processes is much slower. The consequences of human carbon cycle perturbations will far outlive the emissions that caused them."

Doney and Schimel (2007) Carbon and Climate System Coupling. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. Correspondence and requests for materials to Scott C. Doney sdoney @ whoi.edu and David S. Schimel schimel @ ucar.edu doi:10.1146/annurev.energy.32.041706.124700

The authors estimate the impact of projected changes in ozone levels on the land-carbon sink, using a global land carbon cycle model modified to include the effect of ozone deposition on photosynthesis and to account for interactions between ozone and carbon dioxide through stomatal closure. They suggest that the resulting indirect radiative forcing by ozone effects on plants could contribute more to global warming than the direct radiative forcing due to tropospheric ozone increases.

Stitch et al, (2007) Indirect radiative forcing of climate change through ozone effects on the land-carbon sink. Nature. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7155/full/nature06059.html doi:10.1038/nature06059

Measurements of midday vertical atmospheric CO2 distributions reveal annual-mean vertical CO2 gradients that are inconsistent with atmospheric models that  stimate a large transfer of terrestrial carbon from tropical to northern latitudes. This suggests that northern terrestrial uptake of industrial CO2 emissions plays a smaller role than previously thought and that, after subtracting land-use emissions, tropical ecosystems may currently be strong sinks for CO2.

Stephens et al, (2007) Weak Northern and Strong Tropical Land Carbon Uptake from Vertical Profiles of Atmospheric CO2. Science. Authors homepage http://www.eol.ucar.edu/~stephens/cv.html DOI: 10.1126/science.1137004