Issue 5, 2022

Terrestrial carbon cycle: tipping edge of climate change between the atmosphere and biosphere ecosystems

Abstract

Owing to its tendency to couple with multiple elements, carbon forms complex molecules, which is the basic chemistry of life. Given that the climate system is inextricably coupled with the biosphere, understanding the terrestrial mechanistic pathway of carbon is critical in the transformation of the augmenting atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in future. Although the global terrestrial carbon sink reduces the accumulation of atmospheric CO2, which is contingent on the climate and ecosystem, the underlying key biophysical function that controls the ecosystem-carbon-climate responses and their feedback is uncertain. Accordingly, numerous unprecedented multi-scale studies have highlighted the dynamics of terrestrial carbon by strategically employing in situ, earth observation and process-based models; however, to date, the driving force for its dynamics remains unclassified. Besides, the significant variability in carbon is related to the large uncertainties from changes in land use, unambiguously increasing the regional carbon source from the seasonal to interannual scale but without long-term positive or negative feedback. Accordingly, in this review, we attempt to present a holistic understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle by addressing its nature and different key drivers. The heterogenetic data platforms that reliably address the terrestrial carbon sink and its source dynamics are discussed in detail to demonstrate the potential of systematic quantification. Moreover, we summarize the complexity of carbon-climate feedbacks and their associates, extending the pathway for understanding the recent terrestrial carbon allocation, where India's environment is highlighted. This comprehensive review can be valuable to the research community in understanding the importance of the present and future carbon-climate feedback.

Graphical abstract: Terrestrial carbon cycle: tipping edge of climate change between the atmosphere and biosphere ecosystems

Supplementary files

Transparent peer review

To support increased transparency, we offer authors the option to publish the peer review history alongside their article.

View this article’s peer review history

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
08 Dec 2021
Accepted
17 Jul 2022
First published
18 Jul 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 867-890

Terrestrial carbon cycle: tipping edge of climate change between the atmosphere and biosphere ecosystems

M. Hari and B. Tyagi, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 867 DOI: 10.1039/D1EA00102G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements