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Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.5194/esd-14-609-2023
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Continental heat storage: contributions from the ground, inland waters, and permafrost thawing
Author Cuesta-Valero, F.J.; Beltrami, H.; García-García, A.; Krinner, G.; Langer, M.; MacDougall, A.H.; Nitzbon, J.; Peng, J. ORCID logo ; von Schuckmann, K.; Seneviratne, S.I.; Thiery, W.; Vanderkelen, I.; Wu, T.
Source Titel Earth System Dynamics
Year 2023
Department RS
Volume 14
Issue 3
Page From 609
Page To 627
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13603
https://doi.org/10.1890/100125
https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v66.21295
https://doi.org/10.48364/ISIMIP.931371
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7837996
Supplements https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/14/609/2023/esd-14-609-2023-supplement.pdf
Abstract Heat storage within the Earth system is a fundamental metric for understanding climate change. The current energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere causes changes in energy storage within the ocean, the atmosphere, the cryosphere, and the continental landmasses. After the ocean, heat storage in land is the second largest term of the Earth heat inventory, affecting physical processes relevant to society and ecosystems, such as the stability of the soil carbon pool. Here, we present an update of the continental heat storage, combining for the first time the heat in the land subsurface, inland water bodies, and permafrost thawing. The continental landmasses stored 23.8 ± 2.0 × 1021 J during the period 1960–2020, but the distribution of heat among the three components is not homogeneous. The sensible diffusion of heat through the ground accounts for ∼90 % of the continental heat storage, with inland water bodies and permafrost degradation (i.e. latent heat) accounting for ∼0.7 % and ∼9 % of the continental heat, respectively. Although the inland water bodies and permafrost soils store less heat than the solid ground, we argue that their associated climate phenomena justify their monitoring and inclusion in the Earth heat inventory.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=27053
Cuesta-Valero, F.J., Beltrami, H., García-García, A., Krinner, G., Langer, M., MacDougall, A.H., Nitzbon, J., Peng, J., von Schuckmann, K., Seneviratne, S.I., Thiery, W., Vanderkelen, I., Wu, T. (2023):
Continental heat storage: contributions from the ground, inland waters, and permafrost thawing
Earth Syst. Dynam. 14 (3), 609 - 627 10.5194/esd-14-609-2023