Search

Heat extremes have severe implications for human health, ecosystems and the initiation of wildfires. Whereas they are mostly introduced by atmospheric circulation patterns, the intensity of heat extremes is modulated by vegetation functioning associated with soil moisture availability. Thereby, vegetation provides evaporative cooling through transpiration, which can be reduced under water stress. While it has been shown that regional ecosystem water limitation is projected to increase in the future, the respective repercussions on heat extremes remain unclear. In this study we use projections from eight Earth system models to show that projected changes in heat extremes are amplified by increasing ecosystem water limitation in regions across the globe. We represent ecosystem water limitation with the Ecosystem Limitation Index (ELI) and quantify temperature extremes through the differences between warm-season mean and maximum temperatures. We identify hotspot regions in tropical South America and across Northern Eurasia where relatively strong trends towards increased ecosystem water limitation jointly occur with amplifying heat extremes. This correlation is governed by the magnitude of the ELI trends and the present-day ELI which denotes the land-atmosphere coupling strength determining the temperature sensitivity to evaporative cooling. Many regions where vegetation functions are predominantly energy-limited or transitional in present climate exhibit strong trends towards increasing water limitation and simultaneously experience the largest increases in heat extremes. Therefore, considering the ecosystem's water limitation is key for assessing the intensity of future heat extremes and their corresponding impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]