Source: Global biochemical cycle
The African carbon cycle is a source of uncertainty. According to some estimates, the continent’s scenes emit 2.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, which is 1.5 times the annual emission of coal -fired power plants. But the other estimates are almost contradictory, which shows that in the case of continental plants, there is a time of 2.0 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, causing it to be released.
This uncertainty exists partially because the amount of carbon Africa is very different years and partially different as there is a lack of surface observations in the continent. Yun Et El. Applying a Sweet of the Vammali Transport Model on the orbit Carbon Observatory -2 (OCO -2) data, investigating the reason for the fluctuations, which was born from a satellite that tracks the emission of carbon dioxide on the ground level. Filling an important observation difference about Africa, the OCO-2 satellite has allowed researchers to evaluate the continent’s carbon cycle in extraordinary detail.
Scientists had previously suspected that the temperature was the main factor in the plant’s growth and therefore the emissions of carbon dioxide. Instead, these researchers found that in Africa, moisture level has a huge impact.
However, different types of scenes react completely to moisture. In shrubs and grass fields, plants take full advantage of water when it becomes available by increasing its massive energy costs. This reaction means that in wet years, the shrubs and grass fields take very little carbon and remove very little, which transmits the carbon flow of the continent to a great extent. On the contrary, forests and sons are emitted and in wet conditions, the same amount of carbon is emitted. Therefore, their overall effect on the continent’s carbon flow is small.
These results suggest the explanation of this long -standing question as to why Africa was such a weak carbon sink during the 2015-2016 LNNO event. The continent was extraordinarily dry during the time, which caused the growth of plants and increased carbon.
Rainfall is expected to change in Africa in the coming decades. Overall, it is expected that moisture availability in the north will increase and the south will decrease, but the chances of rain will be complicated, which will explode the plant growth. Researchers emphasize that the long-term operation of OCO-2 is necessary to monitor what the African ecosystem responds to these changing samples of rainfall. Keeping in mind the fluctuations of moisture can be more accurate than how the carbon cycle will respond to the climate change. For,,,,,,,,,, for,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,, for,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,, for,,, for,,, for,,, for,,,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,,,, for,, for,.Global biochemical cycleHttps://doi.org/10.1029/2025gb008597, 2025)
Sasiasaimasaima May May Sidak (@saimamay.bsky.social), Science Author
