With polar amplification warming the northern high latitudes at an unprecedented rate, understanding the future dynamics of vegetation and the associated carbon-nitrogen cycle is increasingly critical. This study uses the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS 4.1 to simulate vegetation changes for a future climate scenario, generated by the EC-Earth3.3.1 Earth System model, with the forcing of a 560 ppm CO2 level. Using climate output from an earth system model without coupled dynamic vegetation, to run a higher resolution dynamic vegetation standalone model, allows for a more in depth exploration of vegetation changes. Plus, with this approach, the drivers of high latitude vegetation changes are isolated, but there is still a complete understanding of the climate system and the feedback mechanisms that contributed to it. Our simulations reveal an uneven greening response. The already vegetated Southern Scandinavia and western Russia undergo a shift in species composition as boreal species decline and temperate species expand. This is accompanied by a shift to a carbon sink, despite higher litterfall, root turnover and soil respiration rates, suggesting productivity increases are outpacing decomposition. The previously barren or marginal landscapes of Siberia and interior Alaska/Western Canada, undergo significant vegetation expansion, transitioning towards more stable, forested systems with enhanced carbon uptake. Yet, in the previously sparsely vegetated northern Scandinavia, under elevated CO2 temperate species quickly establish, bypassing the expected boreal progression due to surpassed climate thresholds. Here, despite rising productivity, there is a shift to a carbon source. The deeply frozen soils in central Siberia resist colonisation, underscoring the role of continuous permafrost in buffering ecological change. Together, these results highlight that CO2 induced greening does not always equate to enhanced carbon sequestration. The interplay of warming, nutrient constraints, permafrost dynamics and disturbance regimes creates divergent ecosystem trajectories across the northern high latitudes. These findings illustrate a strong need for regional differentiation in climate projections and carbon budget assessments, as the Arctic's role as a carbon sink may be more heterogeneous and vulnerable than previously assumed.

Landslides, which are aggravated by climate change, greatly threaten mountainous regions like northern Pakistan. However, existing research lacks a complete, region-specific analysis of the climatic and environmental factors driving landslides across various climatic zones, specifically in vulnerable areas such as northern Pakistan. This study explores the N-15 Highway in northern Pakistan. This region is frequently impacted by landslides induced by extreme climatic events, including heavy rainfall and flooding, which usually lead to blockages along the route. We collected a complete landslide inventory using 455 satellite images from 1990 to 2023 and ground surveys. We also analysed the relationship between landslides and climate change over the period of 1990-2023, encompassing soil moisture, vegetation, precipitation, temperature and snow cover. Using meteorological data, we found that the frequency of landslides rose exponentially from 1990 to 2023 due to the impacts of climate change. Especially after 2005, substantial increases in precipitation, temperature and snowmelt led to a more significant rise in landslide occurrences (p < 0.05). In the warm season (April-October), 84.1% of the landslides occurred, which were mainly due to precipitation and snowmelt. Balakot, Babusar-Naran and Chilas were the primary areas along the highway, each with distinct landslide mechanisms. In the Balakot region, which is characterised by sub-tropical conditions, high precipitation played the leading role in landslide occurrences. Landslides at Babusar-Naran, which is known for Alpine conditions, were mostly driven by precipitation, soil moisture fluctuations and snowmelt dynamics. Geological reasons and high temperatures influenced the Chilas region, which is characterised by semi-arid conditions. The EC-Earth3 model from CMIP6 predicts a 1.6-6.5 degrees C warming and a 35% rise in precipitation by 2100, with more extreme variations under SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. These changes are likely to result in arise in the frequency of landslides. We suggest improving ground observation networks and utilising multiple datasets to better understand the relationship between landslides and climatic variables, which enables highly accurate risk assessment and management in high-mountain areas under the warming climate.

In the context of global warming, the soil freeze depth (SFD) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has undergone significant changes, with a series of profound impacts on the hydrological cycle and ecosystem. The complex terrains and high elevations of the TP pose great challenges in data acquisition, presenting difficulties for studying SFD in this region. This study employs Stefan's solution and downscaled datasets from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) to simulate the future SFDs over the TP. The changing trends of the projected SFDs under different Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSP) scenarios are investigated, and; the responses of SFDs to potential climatic factors, such as temperature and precipitation, are analyzed. The potential impacts of SFD changes on eco-hydrological processes are analyzed based on the relationships between SFDs, the distribution of frozen ground, soil moisture, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Results show that the projected SFDs of the TP are estimated to decrease at rates of 0.100 cm/yr under the SSP126, 0.330 cm/yr under the SSP245, 0.565 cm/yr under the SSP370, and 0.750 cm/yr under the SSP585. Additionally, the SFD decreased at a rate of 0.160 cm/yr during the historical period from 1950 to 2014, which was between the decreasing rates of the SSP126 and SSP245 scenarios. The projected SFDs are negatively correlated with air temperature and precipitation, more significant under the higher emissions scenario. The projected decrease in SFDs will significantly impact eco-hydrological processes. A rapid decrease in SFD may lead to a decline in soil moisture content and have adverse impacts on vegetation growth. This research provides valuable insights into the future changes in SFD on the TP and their impacts on eco-hydrological processes.

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) nearly always exists as an internal mixture, and the distribution of this mixture depends on the formation mechanism of SOA. A model is developed to examine the influence of using an internal mixing state based on the mechanism of formation and to estimate the radiative forcing of SOA in the future. For the present day, 66% of SOA is internally mixed with sulfate, while 34% is internally mixed with primary soot. Compared with using an external mixture, the direct effect of SOA is decreased due to the decrease in total aerosol surface area and the increase of absorption efficiency. Aerosol number concentrations are sharply reduced, and this is responsible for a large decrease in the cloud albedo effect. Internal mixing decreases the radiative effect of SOA by a factor of >4 compared with treating SOA as an external mixture. The future SOA burden increases by 24% due to CO2 increases and climate change, leading to a total (direct plus cloud albedo) radiative forcing of -0.05 W m(-2). When the combined effects of changes in climate, anthropogenic emissions, and land use are included, the SOA forcing is -0.07 W m(-2), even though the SOA burden only increases by 6.8%. This is caused by the substantial increase of SOA associated with sulfate in the Aitken mode. The Aitken mode increase contributes to the enhancement of first indirect radiative forcing, which dominates the total radiative forcing.