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Committed and projected future changes in global peatlands – continued transient model simulations since the Last Glacial Maximum

We present long-term projections of global peatland area and carbon with a continuous transient history since the Last Glacial Maximum. Our novel results show that large parts of today’s northern peatlands are at risk from past and future climate change, with larger emissions clearly connected to larger risks. The study includes comparisons between different emission and land-use scenarios, driver attribution through factorial simulations, and assessments of uncertainty from climate forcing.

SoilGrids 2.0: producing soil information for the globe with quantified spatial uncertainty

SOIL
DOI 10.5194/soil-7-217-2021
28 July 2021

This paper focuses on the production of global maps of soil properties with quantified spatial uncertainty, as implemented in the SoilGrids version 2.0 product using DSM practices and adapting them for global digital soil mapping with legacy data. The quantitative evaluation showed metrics in line with previous studies. The qualitative evaluation showed that coarse-scale patterns are well reproduced. The spatial uncertainty at global scale highlighted the need for more soil observations.

A discontinuous Galerkin finite-element model for fast channelized lava flows v1.0

Lava flows present a natural hazard to communities around volcanoes and are usually slow-moving (< 1-5 cm/s). Lava flows during the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano, Hawai’i, however, reached speeds as high as 11 m/s. To investigate these dynamics we develop a new lava flow computer model that incorporates a nonlinear expression for the fluid viscosity. Model results indicate that the lava flows at Site 8 of the eruption displayed shear thickening behavior due to the flow’s high bubble content.

Microbial and geo-archaeological records reveal the growth rate, origin and composition of desert rock surface communities

Biological rock crusts (BRCs) are common microbial-based assemblages covering rocks in drylands. BRCs play a crucial role in arid environments because of the limited activity of plants and soil. Nevertheless, BRC development rates have never been dated. Here we integrated archaeological, microbiological and geological methods to provide a first estimation of the growth rate of BRCs under natural conditions. This can serve as an affordable dating tool in archaeological sites in arid regions.

Oxygen isotope exchange between water and carbon dioxide in soils is controlled by pH, nitrate and microbial biomass through links to carbonic anhydrase activity

SOIL
DOI 10.5194/soil-7-145-2021
14 July 2021

Understanding how the rate of oxygen isotope exchange between water and CO2 varies in soils is key for using the oxygen isotope composition of atmospheric CO2 as a tracer of biosphere CO2 fluxes at large scales. Across 44 diverse soils the rate of this exchange responded to pH, nitrate and microbial biomass, which are hypothesised to alter activity of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase in soils. Using these three soil traits, it is now possible to predict how this isotopic exchange varies spatially.

FaIRv2.0.0: a generalized impulse response model for climate uncertainty and future scenario exploration

This paper presents an update of the FaIR simple climate model, which can estimate the impact of anthropogenic greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions on the global climate. This update aims to significantly increase the structural simplicity of the model, making it more understandable and transparent. This simplicity allows it to be implemented in a wide range of environments, including Excel. We suggest that it could be used widely in academia, corporate research, and education.

Effects of Earth system feedbacks on the potential mitigation of large-scale tropical forest restoration

Estimates of large-scale tree planting and forest restoration as a carbon sequestration tool typically miss a crucial aspect: the Earth system response to the increased land carbon sink from new vegetation. We assess the impact of tropical forest restoration using an Earth system model under a scenario that limits warming to 2 °C. Almost two-thirds of the carbon impact of forest restoration is offset by negative carbon cycle feedbacks, suggesting a more modest benefit than in previous studies.

JlBox v1.1: a Julia-based multi-phase atmospheric chemistry box model

As our knowledge and understanding of atmospheric aerosol particle evolution and impact grows, designing community mechanistic models requires an ability to capture increasing chemical, physical and therefore numerical complexity. As the landscape of computing software and hardware evolves, it is important to profile the usefulness of emerging platforms in tackling this complexity. With this in mind we present JlBox v1.1, written in Julia.

Arctic Ocean acidification over the 21st century co-driven by anthropogenic carbon increases and freshening in the CMIP6 model ensemble

The uptake of carbon, emitted as a result of human activities, results in ocean acidification. We analyse 21st-century projections of acidification in the Arctic Ocean, a region of particular vulnerability, using the latest generation of Earth system models. In this new generation of models there is a large decrease in the uncertainty associated with projections of Arctic Ocean acidification, with freshening playing a greater role in driving acidification than previously simulated.

A process-based evaluation of the Intermediate Complexity Atmospheric Research Model (ICAR) 1.0.1

This study conducts an in-depth process-based evaluation of the Intermediate Complexity Atmospheric Research (ICAR) model, employing idealized simulations to increase the understanding of the model and develop recommendations to maximize the probability that its results are correct for the right reasons. The results show that when model skill is evaluated from statistical metrics based on comparisons to surface observations only, such an analysis may not reflect the skill of the model in capturing atmospheric processes like gravity waves and cloud formation.

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