Consequences of More Extreme Precipitation Regimes for Terrestrial Ecosystems

H uman activities have caused dramatic and un- precedented changes in the global chemical and physical environment, including well-documented increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentration and mean annual temperature If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at present rates, atmospheric CO 2 concentrations will more than double preindustrial levels during the current century, and general circulation models (GCMs) predict additional increases in mean global temperature of between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees Celsius (IPCC 2007). Alterations in patterns of global atmospheric circulation and hydrologic processes are predicted to modify mean annual precipitation and to increase the inter-and…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture
• EC
  European Commission
• OO
  Office of Science
• CS
  Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service