Plant Productivity in a Warming World

  • Released Thursday, August 19, 2010
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The past decade is the warmest on record since instrumental measurements began in the 1880s. Previous research suggested that in the '80s and '90s, warmer global temperatures and higher levels of precipitation — factors associated with climate change — were generally good for plant productivity. An updated analysis published this week in Science indicates that as temperatures have continued to rise, the benefits to plants are now overwhelmed by longer and more frequent droughts. High-resolution data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, indicate a net decrease in NPP from 2000-2009, as compared to the previous two decades.

This narrated video gives an overview of net primary production and the carbon cycle.

For complete transcript, click here.

For media. This video file includes b-roll and animations for supporting material.

Audio Interview with Dr. Steven Running (University of Montana)For complete transcript, click here.

Audio Interview with Dr. Steven Running (University of Montana)

For complete transcript, click here.

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

The change from normal of the annual net primary productivity of the world's land areas for the period 2000-2009 as calculated from Terra's MODIS instrument. This version adds a date and colorbar to the animation.
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.

The change from normal of the annual net primary productivity of southern Africa's land areas for the period 2000-2009 as calculated from Terra's MODIS instrument. This animation shows the full resolution of the 1-km dataset. This version adds a date and colorbar to the animation.

The colorbar legend for the change in net primary productivity. This is the descriptive version of the colorbar.

The colorbar legend for the change in net primary productivity. This is the descriptive version of the colorbar.

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

The gross primary productivity of the world's land areas for the period 2000-2009 as calculated from Terra's MODIS instrument. The original 8-day average GPP data has been smoothed to a 24-day average to make the animation less noisy. This version adds a date and colorbar to the animation.
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.

The gross primary productivity of Africa's southern land areas for the period 2000-2009 as calculated from Terra's MODIS instrument. The original 8-day average GPP data has been smoothed to a 24-day average to make the animation less noisy. This animation shows the full resolution of the 1-km dataset. This version adds a date and colorbar to the animation.

The colorbar legend for the gross primary productivity. This is the descriptive version of the colorbar.

The colorbar legend for the gross primary productivity. This is the descriptive version of the colorbar.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Thursday, August 19, 2010.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:54 PM EDT.

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Tapes

The media on this page originally appeared on the following tapes:
  • NPP Video File (ID: 2010106)
    Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 4:00AM
    Produced by - Richard Chen (NASA)

Related papers

Zhao, M. and S. W. Running, 2010, Drought-induced reduction in global terrestrial net primary production from 2000 through 2009. Science, 329: 940-943.

Zhao, M. and S. W. Running, 2010, Drought-induced reduction in global terrestrial net primary production from 2000 through 2009. Science, 329: 940-943.