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Scientific journal publication

Climate change rivals fertilizer use in driving soil nitrous oxide emissions in the northern high latitudes: Insights from terrestrial biosphere models

Pan, Naiqing; Tian, Hanqin; Shi, Hao; Pan, Shufen; Canadell, Josep G.; Chang, Jinfeng; Ciais, Philippe; Davidson, Eric A.; Hugelius, Gustaf; Ito, Akihiko; Jackson, Robert B.; Joos, Fortunat; Lienert, Sebastian; Millet, Dylan B.; Olin, Stefan; Patra, Prabir K.; Thompson, Rona Louise; Vuichard, Nicolas; Wells, Kelley C.; Wilson, Chris; You, Yongfa; Zaehle, Sönke

Publication details

Journal: Environment International, vol. 196, 109297, 2025

Arkiv: hdl.handle.net/11250/3182818
Doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109297

Summary:
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is the most important stratospheric ozone-depleting agent based on current emissions and the third largest contributor to increased net radiative forcing. Increases in atmospheric N2O have been attributed primarily to enhanced soil N2O emissions. Critically, contributions from soils in the Northern High Latitudes (NHL, >50°N) remain poorly quantified despite their exposure to rapid rates of regional warming and changing hydrology due to climate change. In this study, we used an ensemble of six process-based terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) from the Global Nitrogen/Nitrous Oxide Model Intercomparison Project (NMIP) to quantify soil N2​O emissions across the NHL during 1861–2016. Factorial simulations were conducted to disentangle the contributions of key driving factors, including climate change, nitrogen inputs, land use change, and rising atmospheric CO2 concentration​, to the trends in emissions. The NMIP models suggests NHL soil N2O emissions doubled from 1861 to 2016, increasing on average by 2.0 ± 1.0 Gg N/yr (p