Climate feedbacks are everywhere

 

This study out of Boston University showed an interesting climate feedback -- if it snows less in a forest, then the trees in that forest absorb less carbon.  So as global warming means less snow (in general, not everywhere), then the cause of the warming -- more CO2 in the atmosphere -- won't be removed as efficiently by growing trees.

Ouch.

Less Snow Makes Trees Absorb Less Carbon, According to New BU Study

"In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show that warmer summer temperatures increase tree growth, but less snow on the ground slows this growth significantly—meaning that New England forests’ ability to store carbon in future climate scenarios is likely overestimated."

Here's the paper:

Conrad-Rooney, Reinmann, & Templer: Declining winter snowpack offsets carbon storage enhancement from growing season warming in northern temperate forest ecosystems

And a result:

"Trees in the artificially heated plots that were insulated by snow grew 63 percent larger than those in the unaltered plots. But the trees that went through more freeze-thaw cycles and experienced less snowpack grew only 31 percent larger over the decade-long study. That means that having less snow slowed down their growth and carbon uptake by about half."

So we could also say:  Trees (in boreal forests, anyway) need snow to grow.

And we could sing:  Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.