Divergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor–temperature responses regulated by evapotranspiration
Climate warming induces temporally varying atmospheric water vapor (WV), yet the spatial distribution of opposing trends across global land remains elusive. Here, we use the monthly European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5 dataset to discern the responses of WV changes to the...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada6df |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841525192519581696 |
|---|---|
| author | Ruonan Wang Xingwang Fan Yongwei Liu Xiaosong Zhao Rong Wang Yuanbo Liu |
| author_facet | Ruonan Wang Xingwang Fan Yongwei Liu Xiaosong Zhao Rong Wang Yuanbo Liu |
| author_sort | Ruonan Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate warming induces temporally varying atmospheric water vapor (WV), yet the spatial distribution of opposing trends across global land remains elusive. Here, we use the monthly European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5 dataset to discern the responses of WV changes to the rising air temperature from 1982 to 2020. Simultaneous increases in both the WV and air temperature are observed over approximately three-quarters of global land, with a median of 0.21 mm·K ^–1 , particularly evident in the tropics. Strong positive responses are primarily influenced by increasing trends in evapotranspiration (ET) and low-elevation areas. About one-fifth of global land shows a decline in WV with a median of −0.62 mm·K ^–1 , predominantly in southeastern South America and southwestern North America. Negative responses are also driven by ET trends, where strong ET enhances these effects that are less pronounced in high-altitude regions. The prevalence of a positive response is highest during September–October–November (81%), while a negative response was observed most in December–January–February (35%). The spatial distribution of negative responses generally aligns with soil desiccation patterns; soil desiccation exacerbates negative responses in humid regions due to evaporative cooling but mitigates them in arid regions due to intensified warming. This study enhances our comprehension regarding the divergent responses of atmospheric WV toward global warming. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0d531d46a40b4f8a91891869003ee255 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-0d531d46a40b4f8a91891869003ee2552025-01-17T18:08:22ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120202401910.1088/1748-9326/ada6dfDivergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor–temperature responses regulated by evapotranspirationRuonan Wang0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1567-6666Xingwang Fan1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0099-1839Yongwei Liu2Xiaosong Zhao3Rong Wang4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4307-4985Yuanbo Liu5Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of ChinaClimate warming induces temporally varying atmospheric water vapor (WV), yet the spatial distribution of opposing trends across global land remains elusive. Here, we use the monthly European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5 dataset to discern the responses of WV changes to the rising air temperature from 1982 to 2020. Simultaneous increases in both the WV and air temperature are observed over approximately three-quarters of global land, with a median of 0.21 mm·K ^–1 , particularly evident in the tropics. Strong positive responses are primarily influenced by increasing trends in evapotranspiration (ET) and low-elevation areas. About one-fifth of global land shows a decline in WV with a median of −0.62 mm·K ^–1 , predominantly in southeastern South America and southwestern North America. Negative responses are also driven by ET trends, where strong ET enhances these effects that are less pronounced in high-altitude regions. The prevalence of a positive response is highest during September–October–November (81%), while a negative response was observed most in December–January–February (35%). The spatial distribution of negative responses generally aligns with soil desiccation patterns; soil desiccation exacerbates negative responses in humid regions due to evaporative cooling but mitigates them in arid regions due to intensified warming. This study enhances our comprehension regarding the divergent responses of atmospheric WV toward global warming.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada6dfwater vaporair temperatureclimate warmingsoil desiccation |
| spellingShingle | Ruonan Wang Xingwang Fan Yongwei Liu Xiaosong Zhao Rong Wang Yuanbo Liu Divergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor–temperature responses regulated by evapotranspiration Environmental Research Letters water vapor air temperature climate warming soil desiccation |
| title | Divergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor–temperature responses regulated by evapotranspiration |
| title_full | Divergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor–temperature responses regulated by evapotranspiration |
| title_fullStr | Divergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor–temperature responses regulated by evapotranspiration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Divergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor–temperature responses regulated by evapotranspiration |
| title_short | Divergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor–temperature responses regulated by evapotranspiration |
| title_sort | divergent impacts of soil desiccation on atmospheric water vapor temperature responses regulated by evapotranspiration |
| topic | water vapor air temperature climate warming soil desiccation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada6df |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ruonanwang divergentimpactsofsoildesiccationonatmosphericwatervaportemperatureresponsesregulatedbyevapotranspiration AT xingwangfan divergentimpactsofsoildesiccationonatmosphericwatervaportemperatureresponsesregulatedbyevapotranspiration AT yongweiliu divergentimpactsofsoildesiccationonatmosphericwatervaportemperatureresponsesregulatedbyevapotranspiration AT xiaosongzhao divergentimpactsofsoildesiccationonatmosphericwatervaportemperatureresponsesregulatedbyevapotranspiration AT rongwang divergentimpactsofsoildesiccationonatmosphericwatervaportemperatureresponsesregulatedbyevapotranspiration AT yuanboliu divergentimpactsofsoildesiccationonatmosphericwatervaportemperatureresponsesregulatedbyevapotranspiration |