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Temperature and Vegetation Seasonality Diminishment over Northern Lands
Liang
Xu, Boston University, bireme@gmail.com
(Presenter)
Ranga
Myneni, Boston University, rmyneni2013@gmail.com
Terry
Chapin, University of Alaska, terry.chapin@uaf.edu
T.
V.
Callaghan, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, terry_callaghan@btinternet.com
Jorge
E
Pinzon, NASA/GSFC/SSAI, jorge.e.pinzon@nasa.gov
Compton
Tucker, NASA GSFC, compton.j.tucker@nasa.gov
Zaichun
Zhu, Boston University, zhu.zaichun@gmail.com
Jian
Bi, Boston University, bijian.bj@gmail.com
Philippe
Ciais, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ , philippe.ciais@lsce.ipsl.fr
H.
Tømmervik, Fram-High North Research Center for Climate and the Environment, hans.tommervik@nina.no
Eugenie
Euskirchen, University of Alaska Fairbanks, seeuskirchen@alaska.edu
B.
Forbes, University of Lapland, bruce.forbes@ulapland.fi
S.
Piao, Peking University, slpiao@pku.edu.cn
B.
Anderson, Boston University, brucea@bu.edu
Sangram
Ganguly, NASA ARC BAERI, sangramganguly@gmail.com
Ramakrishna
R.
Nemani, NASA ARC, rama.nemani@nasa.gov
Scott
J.
Goetz, Woods Hole Research Center, sgoetz@whrc.org
Pieter
Beck, Woods Hole Research Center, pbeck@whrc.org
A.
Bunn, Huxley College, Western Washington University, andy.bunn@wwu.edu
C.
Cao, Chinese Academy of Sciences, cao413@irsa.ac.cn
J.
Stroeve, University of Colorado, stroeve@nsidc.org
Global temperature is increasing, especially over northern lands (>50N), owing to positive feedbacks. As this increase is most pronounced in winter, temperature seasonality (S_T) — conventionally defined as the difference between summer and winter temperatures — is diminishing over time, a phenomenon that is analogous to its equatorward decline at an annual scale. The initiation, termination and performance of vegetation photosynthetic activity are tied to threshold temperatures. Trends in the timing of these thresholds and cumulative temperatures above them may alter vegetation productivity, or modify vegetation seasonality (S_V), over time. The relationship between S_T and S_V is critically examined here with newly improved ground and satellite data sets. The observed diminishment of S_T and S_V is equivalent to 4 and 7 (5 and 6) degrees latitudinal shift equatorward during the past 30 years in the Arctic (boreal) region. Analysis of simulations from 17 state-of-the-art climate models indicates an additional S_T diminishment equivalent to a 20-degree equatorward shift could occur this century. How S_V will change in response to such large projected S_T declines and the impact this will have on ecosystem services are not well understood. Hence the need for continued monitoring of northern lands as their seasonal temperature profiles evolve to resemble those further south.
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Poster Session 1-A
(Tue 11:00 AM)
Associated Project(s):
Poster Location ID: 16
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