A greening Earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climate

Abstract The response of mineral weathering and its related Weathering Sink for atmospheric CO2 (WS atm-CO2) to global vegetation greening are not well understood. After applying different biogeochemical models and a field experiment to investigate the influence of vegetation greening and warming on...

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Main Authors: Sibo Zeng, Zaihua Liu, Yongjun Jiang, Nico Goldscheider, Yan Yang, Min Zhao, Hailong Sun, Haibo He, Mingyu Shao, Liangxing Shi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57899-z
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author Sibo Zeng
Zaihua Liu
Yongjun Jiang
Nico Goldscheider
Yan Yang
Min Zhao
Hailong Sun
Haibo He
Mingyu Shao
Liangxing Shi
author_facet Sibo Zeng
Zaihua Liu
Yongjun Jiang
Nico Goldscheider
Yan Yang
Min Zhao
Hailong Sun
Haibo He
Mingyu Shao
Liangxing Shi
author_sort Sibo Zeng
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The response of mineral weathering and its related Weathering Sink for atmospheric CO2 (WS atm-CO2) to global vegetation greening are not well understood. After applying different biogeochemical models and a field experiment to investigate the influence of vegetation greening and warming on the variations of carbonate weathering and WS atm-CO2 on regional and global scales, here we show a significant positive relationship between global carbonate weathering intensity ([HCO3 −] as a proxy) and vegetation greenness. During 1982–2018, under a warming climate, [HCO3 −] and WS atm-CO2 increase by 5.8% and 6.1%, respectively, due to vegetation greening, in the carbonate areas of Southwest China. Meanwhile, the [HCO3 −] in global carbonate areas increases by +2.4% during the same period. By contrast, the [HCO3 −] in global carbonate areas decreases by −1.3% without a vegetation function due to the warming. Moreover, we estimated that the carbonate weathering enhancements due to vegetation restoration at the global scale could reach 43.8%. Our results demonstrate that future vegetation restoration is important for the carbon capture by mineral weathering.
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id doaj-art-3f5d4f394c3a4498a6b8ef1ddf8a04b9
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issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-3f5d4f394c3a4498a6b8ef1ddf8a04b92025-08-20T02:56:15ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-0116111310.1038/s41467-025-57899-zA greening Earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climateSibo Zeng0Zaihua Liu1Yongjun Jiang2Nico Goldscheider3Yan Yang4Min Zhao5Hailong Sun6Haibo He7Mingyu Shao8Liangxing Shi9Chongqing Key Laboratory of Karst Environment & School of Geographical Sciences of Southwest UniversityState Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG), Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)Chongqing Key Laboratory of Karst Environment & School of Geographical Sciences of Southwest UniversityInstitute of Applied Geosciences, Division of Hydrogeology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)Chongqing Key Laboratory of Karst Environment & School of Geographical Sciences of Southwest UniversityState Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG), Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG), Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG), Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG), Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG), Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)Abstract The response of mineral weathering and its related Weathering Sink for atmospheric CO2 (WS atm-CO2) to global vegetation greening are not well understood. After applying different biogeochemical models and a field experiment to investigate the influence of vegetation greening and warming on the variations of carbonate weathering and WS atm-CO2 on regional and global scales, here we show a significant positive relationship between global carbonate weathering intensity ([HCO3 −] as a proxy) and vegetation greenness. During 1982–2018, under a warming climate, [HCO3 −] and WS atm-CO2 increase by 5.8% and 6.1%, respectively, due to vegetation greening, in the carbonate areas of Southwest China. Meanwhile, the [HCO3 −] in global carbonate areas increases by +2.4% during the same period. By contrast, the [HCO3 −] in global carbonate areas decreases by −1.3% without a vegetation function due to the warming. Moreover, we estimated that the carbonate weathering enhancements due to vegetation restoration at the global scale could reach 43.8%. Our results demonstrate that future vegetation restoration is important for the carbon capture by mineral weathering.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57899-z
spellingShingle Sibo Zeng
Zaihua Liu
Yongjun Jiang
Nico Goldscheider
Yan Yang
Min Zhao
Hailong Sun
Haibo He
Mingyu Shao
Liangxing Shi
A greening Earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climate
Nature Communications
title A greening Earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climate
title_full A greening Earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climate
title_fullStr A greening Earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climate
title_full_unstemmed A greening Earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climate
title_short A greening Earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climate
title_sort greening earth has reversed the trend of decreasing carbonate weathering under a warming climate
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57899-z
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