Science, Space and Technology News 2024
Harvard University research finds that increased precipitation, not rising temperatures, is the key driver behind the rise in U.S. soil moisture levels during summers from 2011 to 2020, challenging assumptions about drying soils due to climate change. The study highlights the importance of accurate precipitation predictions and effective water management in agriculture amidst uncertainties in long-term soil moisture trends.
Soil moisture levels play a crucial role in influencing the speed at which wildfires expand, the rapidity with which hills transform into mudslides, and, notably, the efficiency of our agricultural systems. With the ongoing increase in temperatures attributed to anthropogenic climate change, there is a growing apprehension among scientists that soil conditions might become drier.
The research team found that drying from increased temperature was largely balanced by CO2 fertilization, which allows plants to use water more efficiently. Both these effects are secondary relative to rainfall and tend to cancel each other out — leaving precipitation as the primary driver of soil moisture.One challenge in studying soil moisture is a sparsity of data and the frequent disconnect between satellite data and ground-level observations.
“We don’t have very accurate measurements of long-term soil moisture, but the consequences of high temperatures for agricultural yields have a lot to do with water availability,” said Lucas Vargas Zeppetello, who was a Fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment and is first author of the study. “Plants are generally less sensitive to temperature if they have sufficient water, but in dry conditions, they can get in big trouble.
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