Li et al. (2026) Asymmetric temperature responses to soil moisture drought legacies under anthropogenic forcing

Identification

• Journal: Nature Communications
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-09
• Authors: Jun Li, Minchao Wu, Weilin Liao, Xuezhi Tan, Xushu Wu, Chengguang Lai, Zhaoli Wang, Xiangju Cheng, Xiaoping Liu, H. Y. Tang, Josep Peñuelas
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-75496-6

Research Groups

• Interdisciplinary Institute for Future Water and Ocean Intelligence, School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
• Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
• Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
• Guangdong Key Laboratory for Urbanization and Geo-simulation, School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
• Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China.
• Center of Water Resources and Environment, School of Civil Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
• CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Catalonia, Spain
• CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Catalonia, Spain

Short Summary

This study investigates the asymmetric temperature responses to soil moisture drought legacies under anthropogenic forcing. The results show that annual soil water loss in the year after soil moisture droughts induces a larger annual warming effect than the annual cooling from an equivalent water gain.

Objective

• Investigate how soil moisture drought legacy effects influence near-surface air temperature.
• Examine the role of anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing on the asymmetric temperature response to post-drought soil moisture anomalies.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global land regions.
• Temporal Scale: 1980-2024.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Reanalysis products (GLDAS/CLSM, ERA5-Land, MERRA2) and Earth System Models (ESMs) participating in CMIP6.
• Data sources: Satellite-derived root-zone soil moisture from GLEAM v4.2, observed temperature data from the Climatic Research Unit v4.08, and four long-term satellite LAI products.

Main Results

• The general sensitivity of temperature to post-drought water loss is about -0.13K, while the sensitivity to an equivalent increase in soil water is only -0.06K.
• The asymmetric temperature response is statistically significant (P < 0.01) and robust across different reanalysis products, study periods, and identification thresholds for soil moisture drought.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the legacy effects of soil moisture droughts on near-surface air temperature under anthropogenic forcing.
• The findings suggest that past climate extremes may accelerate future warming by impairing vegetation's capacity to regulate biophysical and biogeochemical processes.

Funding

• This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41877193), the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Urbanization and Geo-simulation, and the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai).

Citation

@article{Li2026Asymmetric,
  author = {Li, Jun and Wu, Minchao and Liao, Weilin and Tan, Xuezhi and Wu, Xushu and Lai, Chengguang and Wang, Zhaoli and Cheng, Xiangju and Liu, Xiaoping and Tang, H. Y. and Peñuelas, Josep},
  title = {Asymmetric temperature responses to soil moisture drought legacies under anthropogenic forcing},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-75496-6},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75496-6}
}