Global lake phytoplankton proliferation intensifies climate warming.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39632842.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-54926-3 and PMC identifier 11618615.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
In lakes, phytoplankton sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and store it in the form of biomass organic carbon (OC); however, only a small fraction of the OC remains buried, while the remaining part is recycled to the atmosphere as CO<sub>2</sub> and methane (CH<sub>4</sub>). This has the potential effect of adding CO<sub>2</sub>-equivalents (CO<sub>2</sub>-eq) to the atmosphere and producing a warming effect due to the higher radiative forcing of CH<sub>4</sub> relative to CO<sub>2</sub>. Here we show a 3.1-fold increase in CO<sub>2</sub>-eq emissions over a 100-year horizon, with the effect increasing with global warming intensity. Climate warming has stimulated phytoplankton growth in many lakes worldwide, which, in turn, can feed back CO<sub>2</sub>-eq and create a positive feedback loop between them. In lakes where phytoplankton is negatively impacted by climate warming, the CO<sub>2</sub>-eq feedback capacity may diminish gradually with the ongoing climate warming.
Medical subject headings
- Phytoplankton
- Lakes
- Global Warming
- Carbon Dioxide
- Methane