Potential impact of vegetation feedback on European heat waves in a 2 × CO₂ climate: Vegetation impact on European heat waves

Inclusion of the effects of vegetation feedback in a global climate change simulation suggests that the vegetation-climate feedback works to alleviate partially the summer surface warming and the associated heat waves over Europe induced by the increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. The projected warming of 4°C over most of Europe with static vegetation has been reduced by 1°C as the dynamic vegetation feedback effects are included. Examination of the simulated surface energy fluxes suggests that additional greening in the presence of vegetation feedback effects enhances evapotranspiration and precipitation, thereby limiting the warming, particularly in the daily maximum temperature. The greening also tends to reduce the frequency and duration of heat waves. Results in this study strongly suggest that the inclusion of vegetation feedback within climate models is a crucial factor for improving the projection of warm season temperatures and heat waves over Europe.