The terrestrial biosphere is responsible for most of the interannual variability in measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide through the interactions between fire, growth and soil respiration. The annual processes of growth in the spring and summer followed by decay in the autumn and winter provide the backdrop upon which the climatic modes of variability such as ENSO and the Annular Modes lead to measurable changes in the short-term increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
In previously published work, we documented the link between the drawdown of carbon dioxide by Northern Hemisphere terrestrial vegetation and the position of the westerly winds in the winter. As an extension of that study, we are using a dynamic vegetation model (LM3V; Shevliakova, 2006) coupled in the GFDL global climate model, to project the impact of potential future changes in the position of the Westerlies on Northern Hemisphere vegetation and atmospheric carbon dioxide. We are working in collaboration with colleagues like Elena Shevliakova at Princeton University to quantitatively examine and project the interplay between vegetation, fire, land-use and climate variability in the GFDL global climate model.
Relevant Papers:
- Delworth, T.L., A.J. Broccoli, A. Rosati, R.J. Stouffer, V. Balaji, J.A. Beesley, W.F. Cooke, K.W. Dixon, J. Dunne, K.A. Dunne, J.W. Durachta, K.L. Findell, P. Ginoux, A. Gnanadesikan, C.T. Gordon, S.M. Griffies, R. Gudgel, M.J. Harrison, I.M. Held, R.S. Hemler, L.W. Horowitz, S.A. Klein, T.R. Knutson, P.J. Kushner, A.R. Langenhorst, H-C. Lee, S-J. Lin, J. Lu, S.L. Malyshev, P.C.D. Milly, V. Ramaswamy, J.L. Russell, E. Shevliakova, M.D. Schwarzkopf, J.J. Sirutis, M.J. Spelman, W.F. Stern, M. Winton, A.T. Wittenberg, B. Wyman, F. Zeng, and R. Zhang (2006), GFDL’s CM2 Global Coupled Climate Models. Part I: Formulation and simulation characteristics. J. Climate, 19(5), 643-674. (pdf)
- Russell, J.L., & J.M. Wallace (2004), Annual carbon dioxide drawdown and the Northern Annular Mode, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 18, GB1012, doi:10.1029/2003GB002044. (pdf)
- Russell, J.L., & J.M. Wallace, Modulation of atmospheric composition by the ENSO cycle: analysis of observations of a suite of trace gases using a simple 12-month running difference filter. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, submitted.
- Russell, J.L., E. Shevliakova & S. Malyshev, Annual Carbon Dioxide Drawdown and the Northern Annular Mode as Simulated by LM3V, Global Biogechem. Cycles, in preparation.
“Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons.
—Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.”
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Gould-Simpson Building – Rm 317, 1040 E 4th St., Tucson, AZ 85721
All contents copyright ©. All rights reserved.