Regional Emergence of Water-Related Browning in a Greening World.

ABSTRACT: The Earth is greening in many regions under elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, along with increasing temperature and land use changes. However, despite the continued rise in CO₂, greening has stagnated or even reversed in some regions, suggesting a reduced capacity of the land surface to act as a carbon sink. Here, we show that declining water availability and rising atmospheric water demand have coincided with regional browning trends over recent decades in some tropical regions that have historically acted as prominent carbon sinks. A regression analysis considering a balanced set of water- and energy-related variables alongside land cover change and climate extremes confirms that both water availability and atmospheric water demand are important contributors

SUBMITTER: Orth R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12696614 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature