Water Limitations in the Tropics Offset Carbon Uptake from Arctic Greening

Authors: Nima Madani (NASA's JPL) and Rolf Reichle

As Earth's climate is changing, increased uptake of atmospheric carbon by plants in the Arctic is being offset by a corresponding decline in the tropics. GMAO contributed to a study of ongoing productivity patterns across the globe. See the NASA GSFC press release for more information.

slide graphic
Figure 1. Trend in gross primary productivity (GPP), an indicator of carbon uptake, from 1982–2016. Enhanced carbon uptake in the Arctic (green colors) is offset by reduced carbon uptake in the Tropics (red colors). Dots indicate statistically significant trends.

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Reference:

Madani, N., et al. (2020), Recent Amplified Global Gross Primary Productivity Due to Temperature Increase is Offset by Reduced Productivity Due to Water Constraints, AGU Advances, 1, e2020AV000180, DOI:10.1029/2020AV000180.

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