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Global Climate Change

Global Climate Change

Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.

Primary Production

Primary Production

The total amount of energy acquired by primary producers in an ecosystem is called gross primary production (GPP). However, of this energy, producers use some for metabolic processes, and some is lost as heat, decreasing the amount of energy available to the next trophic level. The remaining usable amount of energy is called the net primary productivity (NPP). In terrestrial ecosystems, NPP is driven by climate, while light penetration and nutrient availability drive NPP in aquatic ecosystems.

What is Climate?

What is Climate?

Climate refers to the prevailing weather conditions in a specific area over an extended period. As the saying goes, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.” Climate is influenced by geographic factors, such as latitude, terrain, and proximity to bodies of water.

Microbes and Climate Change

Microbes and Climate Change

Microorganisms are pivotal agents in Earth's biogeochemical cycles, significantly influencing climate dynamics through their metabolic activities. These microbes modulate the levels of key greenhouse gases by both contributing to and helping mitigate climate change.Microbial Contributions to Greenhouse Gas EmissionsRising global temperatures accelerate microbial metabolism, which, in turn, speeds up the decomposition of organic matter. This process releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) through...

The Carbon Cycle

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is the basis of all organic matter on Earth, and is recycled through the ecosystem in two primary processes: one in which carbon is exchanged among living organisms, and one in which carbon is cycled over long periods of time through fossilized organic remains, weathering of rocks, and volcanic activity. Human activities, including increased agricultural practices and the burning of fossil fuels, has greatly affected the balance of the natural carbon cycle.

Precipitation Processes

Precipitation Processes

The experimental conditions in a gravimetric analysis should be optimized to maximize the particle size and purity of the obtained precipitate. Ideally, the concentration of the precipitating reagent should be low with effective stirring to maintain low relative supersaturation for the growth of large crystals. In homogeneous precipitation, the precipitant is slowly generated by a chemical reaction in the solution to avoid local reagent excesses. For example, urea decomposes gradually to...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 1, 2026

Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions

Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions

Published on: March 31, 2023

Does climate directly influence NPP globally?

Chengjin Chu¹, Megan Bartlett², Youshi Wang³

¹SYSU-Alberta Joint Lab for Biodiversity Conservation, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China.

Global Change Biology

|October 8, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Climate change significantly impacts ecosystem productivity. This study refutes claims of negligible climate effects on net primary productivity (NPP), demonstrating direct climate influences on global vegetation. Keywords: climate change, ecosystem productivity, net primary productivity, global vegetation.

Keywords:

carbon climate change net primary productivity production rainfall

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Climate Science
Global Change Biology

Background:

Ecosystem annual net primary productivity (NPP) is understood to be directly influenced by climate.
A recent study challenged this, suggesting negligible direct climate effects on NPP, positing only indirect influences via stand biomass and age.
This prior work also concluded the length of the growing season (lgs) had a minor, non-climate-related influence on NPP.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify flaws in a previous study's conclusions regarding climate impacts on NPP.
To present novel analyses disentangling the direct and indirect effects of climate and stand variables on NPP.
To provide robust evidence on the role of climate in determining global vegetation productivity.

Main Methods:

Re-analysis of a database of 1247 woody plant communities.
Application of three analytical approaches: maximum-likelihood model selection, independent-effects analysis, and structural equation modeling.
Partitioning of direct and indirect effects of climate variables (temperature, precipitation, growing season length) on NPP and average biomass change (ABC).

Main Results:

Approximately half of global NPP variation is explained by stand biomass (Mtot) and climate variables.
Strong, direct influences of climate on both NPP and ABC were confirmed, independent of Mtot.
The length of the growing season (lgs) was identified as a key climate variable, intrinsically linked to mean annual temperature (Tann) and precipitation (Pann).

Conclusions:

The study refutes prior claims of negligible direct climate effects on NPP.
Climate variables, including temperature, precipitation, and growing season length, play a strong, direct role in determining global vegetation productivity.
Findings support the critical importance of climate in ecosystem processes and provide guidance for predictive modeling.