Integrating LCLM feedbacks into climate models: an emulator approach

The role of Land Cover and Land Management (LCLM) changes in shaping the climate has garnered increasing interest, particularly in light of its potential for climate adaptation and mitigation. Earth System Models (ESMs), however, have hitherto handled LCLM-climate interactions as a unidirectional process, lacking explicit treatment of LCLM-Climate feedbacks. Consequences of these feedbacks nevertheless hold social relevance, affecting agricultural systems, food provision and prices. Furthermore, LCLM can be linked to extreme climate events such as heat waves and drought, which in turn carry economic costs through loss in worker productivity. It is thus essential to integrate LCLM processes and their feedbacks into ESMs, in order to build consistent storylines for future development pathways that take into account their potential for adaptation and mitigation. Moreover, to ensure robustness in the detected LCLM signals, such integration should be done over a range of ESMs.