Terrifying, obviously. But is the potential land carbon sink implication of a greening antarctic in the noise? Are current models effectively hardcoding bare ground? @rosieafisher.bsky.social@ckoven.bsky.social@ecoclimatelab.bsky.social@dougmcneall.bsky.socialwww.nature.com/articles/d41...
Vegetation is spreading at an alarming rate in a place where temperatures are soaring.
Dynamic global vegetation models already predict substantial spread of vegetation in the arctic - but the net effect of it on carbon sinks is not agreed (from what I last read - about a year ago).
Would guess (a) in the noise, (b) slow to accumulate, and (c) offset by albedo feedbacks? But only guesses since the relevant plant types—mosses—aren’t well represented in land models. Need the Antarctic equivalent to @bsulman.bsky.social’s diverse set of Arctic plant types!
We discussed the pro-con of the greening of global drylands due to CO2 loading on the current ep of @mongabay.bsky.social’s podcast & the paper’s co-author told us it’s mostly con My feelings here w/ a greening Antarctic match: dark veg will soak up much solar radiation vs ice, & not enough carbon
The increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times isn’t just driving climate change — it’s also making much of the world’s drylands greener with increased plant growth. T...