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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Simulating Temperature in a Soil Incubation Experiment

Simulating Temperature in a Soil Incubation Experiment

Published on: October 28, 2022

Changes in ecologically critical terrestrial climate conditions.

Noah S Diffenbaugh¹, Christopher B Field

¹Department of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. diffenbaugh@stanford.edu

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|August 3, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Terrestrial ecosystems face rapid warming, twice the ocean rate. This demands unprecedented ecosystem adaptation and range shifts due to accelerating climate change.

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Area of Science:

Climate science
Ecology
Environmental science

Background:

Terrestrial ecosystems are warming significantly faster than oceans.
Past century warming trends indicate accelerated land-based temperature increases.

Purpose of the Study:

To review future terrestrial climate change likelihoods.
To analyze global climate model ensembles for projected warming.
To assess the velocity of climate change and its ecological implications.

Main Methods:

Analysis of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) global climate models.
Review of past 65 million years of global climate change magnitudes.
Assessment of projected 21st-century warming rates and magnitudes.

Main Results:

Continued emissions will drive 21st-century warming comparable to past geological events but much faster.
The implied velocity of climate change necessitates annual ecosystem range shifts of kilometers.
Ecosystems face challenges from land use, extreme events, and interacting stresses.

Conclusions:

Rapid climate change velocity poses significant threats to terrestrial ecosystems.
Adaptation challenges are amplified by land degradation and other environmental stressors.
Urgent mitigation and adaptation strategies are crucial for ecosystem resilience.