Large Divergence in Tropical Hydrological Projections Caused by Model Spread in Vegetation Responses to Elevated CO2

Increasing atmospheric CO2 and associated global warming are expected to alter the global hydrological cycle, thereby posing widespread threats to freshwater availability. However, future hydrological projections differ greatly between models, particularly over the tropical regions. The large difference between model projections directly limits policy planning efforts, and the responsible modeling processes remain unclear. Here, we identify the primary processes accounting for model differences in tropical hydrological changes using multiple CO2 sensitivity experiments in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. We show that differences in projected changes to tropical evapotranspiration, precipitation, and surface water availability mainly arise from model representations of vegetation cover and stomatal conductance responses to elevated CO2 and associated changes in atmospheric moisture and circulation. Atmospheric responses to sea surface warming contribute additionally to the divergence in hydrological projections. Given the importance of vegetation responses to elevated CO2 and associated atmosphere feedbacks, our results underscore the need to improve representations of the vegetation physiological response to rising CO2 and its coupling to the atmosphere, to provide reliable tropical hydrological projections.

Automated summary

Increasing atmospheric CO2 and global warming will alter the global hydrological cycle, threatening freshwater availability. However, models have different projections for tropical hydrological changes, mainly due to differences in vegetation cover, stomatal conductance responses, atmospheric moisture, and circulation. Atmospheric responses to sea surface warming also contribute to divergence in hydrological projections.