Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information
here...
Comment in:
Role of land-surface changes in arctic summer warming.
Chapin FS 3rd, Sturm M, Serreze MC, McFadden JP, Key JR, Lloyd AH, McGuire AD, Rupp TS, Lynch AH, Schimel JP, Beringer J, Chapman WL, Epstein HE, Euskirchen ES, Hinzman LD, Jia G, Ping CL, Tape KD, Thompson CD, Walker DA, Welker JM.
Institute of Arctic Biology; University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA. terry.chapin@uaf.edu
A major challenge in predicting Earth's future climate state is to understand feedbacks that alter greenhouse-gas forcing. Here we synthesize field data from arctic Alaska, showing that terrestrial changes in summer albedo contribute substantially to recent high-latitude warming trends. Pronounced terrestrial summer warming in arctic Alaska correlates with a lengthening of the snow-free season that has increased atmospheric heating locally by about 3 watts per square meter per decade (similar in magnitude to the regional heating expected over multiple decades from a doubling of atmospheric CO2). The continuation of current trends in shrub and tree expansion could further amplify this atmospheric heating by two to seven times.
Publication Types:
PMID: 16179434 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]