Fig. 2: High-latitude inertia. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: High-latitude inertia.

From: Timescales of the permafrost carbon cycle and legacy effects of temperature overshoot scenarios

Fig. 2

Shown is the development of key variables under the nontransient atmospheric conditions that arise at the target climate (PACT1.5). a Simulated net ecosystem carbon fluxes into the atmosphere, b soil temperatures at a depth of 3 m, and c total (liquid and frozen) water content of the soil—in the permafrost-affected areas of the high northern latitudes. Blue lines refer to simulations (NoOS) without previous temperature overshoot (OS), gray lines indicate simulations that started subsequent to an OS with a peak in 2050 (P2050), yellow lines after an OS with a peak in 2075 (P2075) and red lines after an OS with a peak in 2100 (P2100). Shown is the 10-year running mean and solid vertical lines indicate the adjustment timescale. The latter considers the duration until a given variable has largely adapted to the atmospheric conditions—defined by the point at which the rate of change of a given variable has decreased by an order of magnitude (“Methods”). It should be noted that the analysis is based on the spatial average over the simulated permafrost regions, while individual grid cells can still exhibit substantial trends when the high latitudes as a whole have largely adjusted to the steady atmospheric conditions (see below).

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