Contrasting regional responses to increasing leaf-level atmospheric carbon dioxide over Australia

Abstract

Using a coupled atmosphere-land surface model, simulations were conducted to characterize the regional climate changes that result from the response of stomates to increases in leaf-level carbon dioxide (CO2) under differing conditions of moisture availability over Australia. Multiple realizations for multiple Januarys corresponding to dry and wet years were run, where only the leaf-level CO2 was varied at 280, 375, 500, 650, 840, and 1000 ppmv and the atmospheric CO2 was fixed at 375 ppmv. The results show the clear effect of increasing leaf-level CO2 on the transpiration via the stomatal response, particularly when sufficient moisture is available. Statistically significant reductions in transpiration generally lead to a significantly warmer land surface with decreases in rainfall. Increases in CO2 lead to increases in the magnitude and areal extent of the statistically significant mean changes in the surface climate. However, the results also show that the availability of moisture substantially affects the effect of increases in the leaf-level CO2, particularly for a moisturelimited region. The physiological feedback can indirectly lead to more rainfall via changes in the low-level moisture convergence and vertical velocity, which result in a cooling simulated over Western Australia. The significant changes in the surface climate presented in the results suggest that it is still important to incorporate these feedbacks in future climate assessments and projections for Australia. The influence of moisture availability also indicates that the capacity of the physiological feedback to affect the future climate may be affected by uncertainties in rainfall projections, particularly for water-stressed regions such as Australia. © 2010 American Meteorological Society.