Extreme heat increases CO₂ emissions by accelerating the ‘respiration’ of ecosystems

The combination of heat and humidity in 2024 favored the activity of microorganisms and the respiration of plants, and caused nature to increase the release of carbon through respiration.

Under normal conditions, terrestrial ecosystems act as ‘lungs’ that offset our emissions: plants capture CO2 through photosynthesis and store it in trunks, roots and soils. However, a new article published in the journal Nature Communications warns that this balance has been broken on a global scale. The research team has observed that, during 2024, the first year in which the global average temperature exceeded 1.55ºC compared to the pre-industrial era, extreme heat combined with high humidity drastically altered this balance. Specifically, the results indicate that 2024 recorded the highest peak of CO2 in the atmosphere since measurements began in 1958. Most worryingly, most of this net increase was not only due to human activity, but also to ecosystems losing their ability to act as sinks.

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