IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007
Climate Change 2007: Working Group I: The Physical Science Basis

Chapter 7: Couplings Between Changes in the Climate System and Biogeochemistry

Executive Summary

7.1 Introduction

7.1.1 Terrestrial Ecosystems and Climate

7.1.2 Ocean Ecosystems and Climate

7.1.3 Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate

7.1.4 Aerosol Particles and Climate

7.1.5 Coupling the Biogeochemical Cycles with the Climate System

7.2 The Changing Land Climate System

7.2.1 Introduction to Land Climate

7.2.2 Dependence of Land Processes and Climate on Scale

7.2.3 Observational Basis for the Effects of Land Surface on Climate

7.2.4 Modelling the Coupling of Vegetation, Moisture Availability, Precipitation and Surface Temperature

7.2.5 Evaluation of Models Through Intercomparison

7.2.6 Linking Biophysical to Biogeochemical and Ecohydrological Components

7.3 The Carbon Cycle and the Climate System

7.3.1 Overview of the Global Carbon Cycle

FAQ 7.1 Are the Increases in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Other Greenhouse Gases During the Industrial Era Caused by Human Activities?

7.3.2 The Contemporary Carbon Budget

7.3.3 Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Processes and Feedbacks to Climate

7.3.4 Ocean Carbon Cycle Processes and Feedbacks to Climate

7.3.5 Coupling Between the Carbon Cycle and Climate

7.4 Reactive Gases and the Climate System

7.4.1 Methane

7.4.2 Nitrogen Compounds

7.4.3. Molecular Hydrogen

7.4.4 Global Tropospheric Ozone

7.4.5 The Hydroxyl Radical

7.4.6 Stratospheric Ozone and Climate

7.5 Aerosol Particles and the Climate System

7.5.1 Aerosol Emissions and Burdens Affected by Climatic Factors

7.5.2 Indirect Effects of Aerosols on Clouds and Precipitation

7.5.3 Effects of Aerosols and Clouds on Solar Radiation at the Earth’s Surface

7.5.4 Effects of Aerosols on Circulation Patterns

7.6 Concluding Remarks

References

Coordinating Lead Authors:

Kenneth L. Denman (Canada), Guy Brasseur (USA, Germany)

Lead Authors:

Amnat Chidthaisong (Thailand), Philippe Ciais (France), Peter M. Cox (UK), Robert E. Dickinson (USA), Didier Hauglustaine (France), Christoph Heinze (Norway, Germany), Elisabeth Holland (USA), Daniel Jacob (USA, France), Ulrike Lohmann (Switzerland), Srikanthan Ramachandran (India), Pedro Leite da Silva Dias (Brazil), Steven C. Wofsy (USA), Xiaoye Zhang (China)

Contributing Authors:

D. Archer (USA), V. Arora (Canada), J. Austin (USA), D. Baker (USA), J.A. Berry (USA), R. Betts (UK), G. Bonan (USA), P. Bousquet (France), J. Canadell (Australia), J. Christian (Canada), D.A. Clark (USA), M. Dameris (Germany), F. Dentener (EU), D. Easterling (USA), V. Eyring (Germany), J. Feichter (Germany), P. Friedlingstein (France, Belgium), I. Fung (USA), S. Fuzzi (Italy), S. Gong (Canada), N. Gruber (USA, Switzerland), A. Guenther (USA), K. Gurney (USA), A. Henderson-Sellers (Switzerland), J. House (UK), A. Jones (UK), C. Jones (UK), B. Kärcher (Germany), M. Kawamiya (Japan), K. Lassey (New Zealand), C. Le Quéré (UK, France, Canada), C. Leck (Sweden), J. Lee-Taylor (USA, UK), Y. Malhi (UK), K. Masarie (USA), G. McFiggans (UK), S. Menon (USA), J.B. Miller (USA), P. Peylin (France), A. Pitman (Australia), J. Quaas (Germany), M. Raupach (Australia), P. Rayner (France), G. Rehder (Germany), U. Riebesell (Germany), C. Rödenbeck (Germany), L. Rotstayn (Australia), N. Roulet (Canada), C. Sabine (USA), M.G. Schultz (Germany), M. Schulz (France, Germany), S.E. Schwartz (USA), W. Steffen (Australia), D. Stevenson (UK), Y. Tian (USA, China), K.E. Trenberth (USA), T. Van Noije (Netherlands), O. Wild (Japan, UK), T. Zhang (USA, China), L. Zhou (USA, China)

Review Editors:

Kansri Boonpragob (Thailand), Martin Heimann (Germany, Switzerland), Mario Molina (USA, Mexico)

This chapter should be cited as:

Denman, K.L., G. Brasseur, A. Chidthaisong, P. Ciais, P.M. Cox, R.E. Dickinson, D. Hauglustaine, C. Heinze, E. Holland, D. Jacob, U. Lohmann, S Ramachandran, P.L. da Silva Dias, S.C. Wofsy and X. Zhang, 2007: Couplings Between Changes in the Climate System and Biogeochemistry. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M.Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.