U.S. researchers say they have found links between both spring and autumn temperature changes and the uptake and loss of carbon dioxide.
Purdue University Associate Professor Kevin Robert Gurney, the associate director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, said he and colleagues examined variations in carbon flux from boreal ecosystems in relation to measurements of temperature, precipitation and climate indices.
The study shows Boreal North America removes carbon from the Earth's atmosphere during years in which the region experiences warm spring conditions and rainfall. Boreal Asia, however, exhibits an opposing response -- years with above normal autumn temperatures and rainfall result in net carbon emissions.
"A warming Canada may mean Canadian forests will act as a sink to atmospheric CO2," said Gurney, "while boreal Asia could lose ecosystem carbon to the atmosphere as the regions warms."
Some studies have shown an additional temperature increase above that derived from industrial greenhouse gases is due primarily to carbon emissions from warmed global soils. Gurney's research suggests that might occur in Asia but not in North America.
The study was presented last week in San Francisco during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Related stories:
Earth would be heading to a freeze without CO2 emissions
Scheduled shifts in Earth's orbit should plunge the planet into an enduring Ice Age thousands of years from now but the event will probably be averted because of man-made greenhouse gases, scientists said Wednesday.
Report: Greenhouse gases imperil oceans' web of life
Corals, lobsters, clams and many other ocean creatures - including some at the bottom of the food chain - may be unable to withstand the increasing acidity of the oceans brought on by growing global-warming pollution, according to a report Tuesday from the advocacy group Oceana.
Dried mushrooms slow climate warming in Northern forests
The fight against climate warming has an unexpected ally in mushrooms growing in dry spruce forests covering Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and other northern regions, a new UC Irvine study finds.
Current mass extinction spurs major study of which plants to save
The Earth is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction of both plants and animals, with nearly 50 percent of all species disappearing, scientists say.
NASA Maps Shed Light on Carbon Dioxide's Global Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- A NASA/university team has published the first global satellite maps of the key greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in Earth's mid-troposphere, an area about 8 kilometers, or 5 miles, above Earth. The team's study reveals new information on how carbon dioxide, which directly contributes to climate change, is distributed in Earth's atmosphere and moves around our world.
Mouse studies suggest daily dose of ginkgo may prevent brain cell damage after a stroke
Working with genetically engineered mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that daily doses of a standardized extract from the leaves of the ginkgo tree can prevent or reduce brain damage after an induced stroke.
Climate change, human activity and wildfires
Climate has been implicated by a new study as a major driver of wildfires in the last 2,000 years. But human activities, such as land clearance and fire suppression during the industrial era (since 1750) have created large swings in burning, first increasing fires until the late 1800s, and then dramatically reducing burning in the 20th century.
Oil palm plantations are no substitute for tropical rainforests
The continued expansion of oil palm plantations will worsen the dual environmental crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, unless rainforests are better protected, warn scientists in the most comprehensive review of the subject to date.