Probabilistic impacts of compound dry and hot events on global gross primary production

Abstract

As the basis of food and fiber production, gross primary production (GPP) plays a critical role in the growth of vegetation. Understanding the response of GPP to climate extremes is important for ensuring food security under ongoing global warming. Plenty of evidence shows that the recent widespread dry or hot events across the globe have significant influences on GPP, yet little is known about their joint impacts. Here, we reveal a high risk of compound dry and hot events globally, in response to the strong negative dependence of precipitation and temperature, which leads to a substantial negative impact on GPP for both crop and pasture ecosystems. Using a meta-Gaussian model, we show that the probability of a reduction in global terrestrial GPP increases significantly under compound dry and hot conditions relative to their individual counterparts. Further, the risk of GPP reductions increases with the intensified severity of compound dry and hot events across the globe. These results unravel the sensitivity of GPP to compound dry and hot conditions and highlight the need to account for the influence of compound events when assessing the carbon budget.