Temperature extremes of 2022 reduced carbon uptake by forests in Europe.
other
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37803032.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-41851-0 and PMC identifier 10558467.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The year 2022 saw record breaking temperatures in Europe during both summer and fall. Similar to the recent 2018 drought, close to 30% (3.0 million km<sup>2</sup>) of the European continent was under severe summer drought. In 2022, the drought was located in central and southeastern Europe, contrasting the Northern-centered 2018 drought. We show, using multiple sets of observations, a reduction of net biospheric carbon uptake in summer (56-62 TgC) over the drought area. Specific sites in France even showed a widespread summertime carbon release by forests, additional to wildfires. Partial compensation (32%) for the decreased carbon uptake due to drought was offered by a warm autumn with prolonged biospheric carbon uptake. The severity of this second drought event in 5 years suggests drought-induced reduced carbon uptake to no longer be exceptional, and important to factor into Europe's developing plans for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions that rely on carbon uptake by forests.
Medical subject headings
- Carbon
- Forests