COS-derived GPP relationships with temperature and light help explain high-latitude atmospheric CO2 seasonal cycle amplification

In the Arctic and Boreal region (ABR) where warming is especially pronounced, the increase of gross primary production (GPP) has been suggested as an important driver for the increase of the atmospheric CO 2 seasonal cycle amplitude (SCA). However, the role of GPP relative to changes in ecosystem respiration (ER) remains unclear, largely due to our inability to quantify these gross fluxes on regional scales. Here, we use atmospheric carbonyl sulfide (COS) measurements to provide observation-based estimates of GPP over the North American ABR. Our annual GPP estimate is 3.6 (2.4 to 5.5) PgC · y −1 between 2009 and 2013, the uncertainty of which is smaller than the range of GPP estimated from terrestrial ecosystem models (1.5 to 9.8 PgC · y −1). Our COS-derived monthly GPP shows significant correlations in space and time with satellite-based GPP proxies, solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, and near-infrared reflectance of vegetation. Furthermore, the derived monthly GPP displays two different linear relationships with soil temperature in spring versus autumn, whereas the relationship between monthly ER and soil temperature is best described by a single quadratic relationship throughout the year. In spring to midsummer, when GPP is most strongly correlated with soil temperature, our results suggest the warming-induced increases of GPP likely exceeded the increases of ER over the past four decades. In autumn, however, increases of ER were likely greater than GPP due to light limitations on GPP, thereby enhancing autumn net carbon emissions. Both effects have likely contributed to the atmospheric CO 2 SCA amplification observed in the ABR

Continued emissions of carbon tetrachloride from the United States nearly two decades after its phaseout for dispersive uses

National-scale emissions of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) are derived based on inverse modeling of atmospheric observations at multiple sites across the United States from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's flask air sampling network. We estimate an annual average US emission of 4.0 (2.0-6.5) Gg CCl4 y(-1) during 2008-2012, which is almost two orders of magnitude larger than reported to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) (mean of 0.06 Gg y(-1)) but only 8% (3-22%) of global CCl4 emissions during these years. Emissive regions identified by the observations and consistently shown in all inversion results include the Gulf Coast states, the San Francisco Bay Area in California, and the Denver area in Colorado. Both the observation-derived emissions and the US EPA TRI identified Texas and Louisiana as the largest contributors, accounting for one-to two-thirds of the US national total CCl4 emission during 2008-2012. These results are qualitatively consistent with multiple aircraft and ship surveys conducted in earlier years, which suggested significant enhancements in atmospheric mole fractions measured near Houston and surrounding areas. Furthermore, the emission distribution derived for CCl4 throughout the United States is more consistent with the distribution of industrial activities included in the TRI than with the distribution of other potential CCl4 sources such as uncapped landfills or activities related to population density (e.g., use of chlorine-containing bleach)

Global Climate

In 2021, both social and economic activities began to return towards the levels preceding the COVID-19 pandemic for some parts of the globe, with others still experiencing restrictions. Meanwhile, the climate has continued to respond to the ongoing increase in greenhouse gases and resulting warming. La Niña, a phenomenon which tends to depress global temperatures while changing rainfall patterns in many regions, prevailed for all but two months of the year. Despite this, 2021 was one of the six-warmest years on record as measured by global mean surface temperature with an anomaly of between +0.21° and +0.28°C above the 1991–2020 climatology. Lake surface temperatures were their highest on record during 2021. The number of warm days over land also reached a new record high. Exceptional heat waves struck the Pacific Coast of North America, leading to a new Canadian maximum temperature of 49.6°C at Lytton, British Columbia, on 29 June, breaking the previous national record by over 4°C. In Death Valley, California, the peak temperature reached 54.4°C on 9 July, equaling the temperature measured in 2020, and the highest temperature recorded anywhere on the globe since at least the 1930s. Over the Mediterranean, a provisional new European record of 48.8°C was set in Sicily on 11 August. In the atmosphere, the annual mean tropospheric temperature was among the 10 highest on record, while the stratosphere continued to cool. While La Niña was present except for June and July, likely influencing Australia’s coolest year since 2012 and wettest since 2016, other modes of variability played important roles. A negative Indian Ocean dipole event became established during July, associated with a warmer east and cooler west Indian Ocean. Northern Hemisphere winters were affected by a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation at both the beginning and end of 2021. In the Southern Hemisphere, a very strong positive Southern Annular Mode (also known as the Antarctic Oscillation) contributed to New Zealand’s record warm year and to very cold temperatures over Antarctica. Land surface winds continued a slow reversal from the multi-decadal stilling, and over the ocean wind speeds were at their highest in almost a decade. La Niña conditions had a clear influence on the regional patterns of many hydrological variables. Surface specific humidity and total column water vapor over land and ocean were higher than average in almost all datasets. Relative humidity over land reached record or near-record low saturation depending on the dataset, but with mixed signals over the ocean. Satellite measurements showed that 2021 was the third cloudiest in the 19-year record. The story for precipitation was mixed, with just below-average mean precipitation falling over land and below-average mean precipitation falling over the ocean, while extreme precipitation was generally more frequent, but less intense, than average. Differences between means and extremes can be due to several factors, including using different indices, observing periods, climatological base reference periods, and levels of spatial completeness. The sharp increase in global drought area that began in mid-2019 continued in 2021, reaching a peak in August with 32% of global land area experiencing moderate or worse drought, and declining slightly thereafter. Arctic permafrost temperatures continued to rise, reaching record values at many sites, and the thickness of the layer which seasonally thaws and freezes also increased over 2020 values in a number of regions. It was the 34th-consecutive year of mass balance loss for alpine glaciers in mountainous regions, with glaciers on average 25 m thinner than in the late 1970s. And the duration of lake ice in the Northern Hemisphere was the fourth lowest in situ record dating back to 1991. The atmospheric concentrations of the major long-lived greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4, and N2O, all reached levels not seen in at least the last million years and grew at near-record rates in 2021. La Niña conditions did not appear to have any appreciable impact on their growth rates. The growth rate for CH4, of 17 ppb yr−1, was similar to that for 2020 and set yet another record, although the causes for this post-2019 acceleration are unknown presently. Overall, CO2 growth continues to dominate the increase in global radiative forcing, which increased from 3.19 to 3.23 W m−2 (watts per square meter) during the year. In 2021, stratospheric ozone did not exhibit large negative anomalies, especially near the poles, unlike 2020, where large ozone depletions appeared, mainly from dynamical effects. The positive impact of reductions in emissions of ozone depleting substances can be seen most clearly in the upper stratosphere, where such dynamical effects are less pronounced. It was the fourth-lowest fire year since global records began in 2003, though extreme regional fire activity was again seen in North America and also in Siberia; as in 2020, the effects of wildfires in these two regions led to locally large regional positive anomalies in tropospheric aerosol and carbon monoxide abundance. Vegetation is responding to the higher global mean temperatures, with the satellite-derived measures for the Northern Hemisphere for 2021 rated among the earliest starts of the growing season and the latest end of the season on record. The first bloom date for cherry trees in Kyoto, Japan, broke a 600-year record set in 1409. This year we welcome a sidebar on the global distribution of lightning, which has been recently declared an essential climate variable (ECV) by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Time series and anomaly maps from many of the variables described in this chapter can be found in Plates 1.1 and 2.1. As with other chapters, many of the sections have moved from the previous 1981–2010 to the new 1991–2020 climatological reference period, in line with WMO recommendations (see Chapter 1). This is not possible for all datasets, as it is dependent on their length of record or legacy processing methods. While anomalies from the new climatology period are not so easily comparable with previous editions of this report, they more clearly highlight deviations from more recent conditions

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit