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Grasslands across North America will face higher summer temperatures and widespread drought by the end of the century

ScienceDaily (February 29, 2016)

Grasslands across North America will face higher summer temperatures and widespread drought by the end of the century, according to a new study. But those negative effects in vegetation growth will be largely offset, the research predicts, by an earlier start to the spring growing season and warmer winter temperatures.

To understand the effects of climate change on grasslands, the scientists created a model of the hydrology and vegetation of the region. They used data from the PhenoCam Network, a collection of some 250 Internet-connected cameras that capture images of local vegetation conditions every half-hour.

Using 14 sites that represent a variety of climates, the biologists ran the model against a metric of "greenness" to ensure that it could reproduce results in line with real-world observations.

The model is described in a paper published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Story Source  : National Science Foundation

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