Africa and the global carbon cycle

Authors

Christopher A. Williams, Clark UniversityFollow
Niall P. Hanan, Colorado State University
Jason C. Neff, University of Colorado Boulder
Robert J. Scholes, The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
Joseph A. Berry, Carnegie Institution of Washington
A. Scott Denning, Colorado State University
David F. Baker, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The African continent has a large and growing role in the global carbon cycle, with potentially important climate change implications. However, the sparse observation network in and around the African continent means that Africa is one of the weakest links in our understanding of the global carbon cycle. Here, we combine data from regional and global inventories as well as forward and inverse model analyses to appraise what is known about Africa's continental-scale carbon dynamics. With low fossil emissions and productivity that largely compensates respiration, land conversion is Africa's primary net carbon release, much of it through burning of forests. Savanna fire emissions, though large, represent a short-term source that is offset by ensuing regrowth. While current data suggest a near zero decadal-scale carbon balance, interannual climate fluctuations (especially drought) induce sizeable variability in net ecosystem productivity and savanna fire emissions such that Africa is a major source of interannual variability in global atmospheric CO2. Considering the continent's sizeable carbon stocks, their seemingly high vulnerability to anticipated climate and land use change, as well as growing populations and industrialization, Africa's carbon emissions and their interannual variability are likely to undergo substantial increases through the 21st century. © 2007 Williams et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Publication Title

Carbon Balance and Management

Publication Date

3-7-2007

Volume

2

Issue

1

ISSN

1750-0680

DOI

10.1186/1750-0680-2-3

Repository Citation

Williams, Christopher A.; Hanan, Niall P.; Neff, Jason C.; Scholes, Robert J.; Berry, Joseph A.; Denning, A. Scott; and Baker, David F., "Africa and the global carbon cycle" (2007). Geography. 922.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_geography/922

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Copyright Conditions

License agreement

Publisher source must be acknowledged with citation:
Williams, Christopher A., et al. "Africa and the global carbon cycle." Carbon balance and management 2.1 (2007): 1-13.

Must link to publisher version with DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-0680-2-3