Vegetation-climate interactions in the warm mid-Cretaceous

Here, we explore the vegetation-climate interactions in the mid-Cretaceous using a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model with a dynamic vegetation component. We run simulations with 1x, 10x and 16x pre-industrial atmospheric CO2.

Results show that forests expand from mid-latitudes to high latitudes as CO2 increases from 1x to 10x and 16x, mainly due to the CO2-induced warming. This expansion of mid-to-high latitude forests are largely supported by the distribution of mid-Cretaceous fossil woods and coal deposits. Globally, the presence of vegetation increases mean annual temperature and precipitation by 0.9 °C and 0.11 mm day⁻¹ relative to bare ground.