Land surface processes are the dominant driver of global runoff increase

Global runoff increases with carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration because of the synergistic effects of physiological responses to CO2 and the responses of vegetation and soil moisture to CO2-induced climate change. These land surface changes are far more important than the direct effects of climate change on global runoff in a CO2-warmed world.

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Fig. 1: Integration and reconciliation of the top-down and bottom-up approaches.

References

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This is a summary of: Zhou, S. et al. Projected increase in global runoff dominated by land surface changes. Nat. Clim. Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01659-8 (2023).

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Land surface processes are the dominant driver of global runoff increase.
Nat. Clim. Chang. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01666-9

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  • Published: 17 April 2023

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01666-9

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