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Socio-environmental trade-offs and synergies in terrestrial carbon-water coupling in a changing Planet

Project description

A closer look at the carbon-water crisis

Rising atmospheric CO2 and climate change accelerate terrestrial water cycles, triggering more frequent and severe droughts and reducing soil moisture. This disruption endangers the stability of terrestrial carbon budgets by altering vegetation functions. Human activities exacerbate these effects through deforestation and intensive water use. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TYPIC project will explore how socio-environmental changes affect carbon-water dynamics. Using Earth observations and big data, TYPIC maps global variations and disentangles underlying mechanisms. By identifying hotspots, it aids in land-based mitigation strategies and water resource sustainability. TYPIC promises to unravel associated complexities, informing crucial environmental policies.

Objective

Terrestrial carbon and water cycles are strongly coupled. Rising atmospheric CO2 and climate change have accelerated terrestrial water cycle, causing reduced soil moisture, and more frequent and severe droughts. Such environmental changes have modified vegetation functions, endangering the stability of terrestrial carbon budget. Human activities, such as deforestation and intensive water use, have further influenced carbon-water coupling by exacerbating external perturbations. A weakening of the terrestrial carbon sink induced by progressive water stress conditions could further destabilize the climate system with potential dramatic consequences for human societies.
Despite its importance, the sensitivities of terrestrial carbon-water dynamics to socio-environmental changes remain elusive. The complexity of the topic, its interdisciplinarity, together with knowledge and methodological gaps in observing, understanding, and predicting carbon-water coupling, have hampered so far substantial progresses.
TYPIC aims to respond to such emerging global challenge by addressing two key questions: How does terrestrial carbon-water coupling respond to socio-environmental changes? How have socio-environmental trade-offs and synergies influenced the trajectories of terrestrial carbon-water dynamics over the last decades?
Here, I propose to investigate the subject with a novel approach that builds on the integration of Earth observations with big-data technologies. Satellite retrievals will be used in combination with advanced statistical tools to quantify spatial and temporal variations in terrestrial carbon-water coupling at the global scale. The underlying socio-environmental mechanisms will be disentangled through causal inference methods. Hotspot areas subject to amplification or compensatory effects between environmental and human factors will be finally identified to assist the development of land-based mitigation actions and the long-term sustainability of water resources.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 188 590,08
Address
Piazza San Marco 4
50121 Florence
Italy

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Region
Centro (IT) Toscana Firenze
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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