The benefits of recent warming for maize production in high latitude China

Latitudes above 45°N have been characterized by rates of warming faster than the global average since 1980. However, the effects of this warming on crop production at these latitudes are still unclear. Using 30-years of weather and crop management data in Heilongjiang area of China (43.4° to 53.4°N), combined with the Hybrid-Maize model, we show that that maize yields would have stagnated in most areas and decreased in the southern part of Heilongjiang if varieties were assumed fixed since 1980. However, we show that through farmers’ adaptation, warming has benefitted maize production for much of this region. Specifically, farmers gradually chose longer maturing varieties, resulting in a net 7–17 % yield increase per decade. Meanwhile, farmers also rapidly expanded maize area (from 1.88 million ha in 1980 to 4.01 million ha in 2009) and the northward limit of maize area shifted by more than 290 km from ~50.8°N to ~53.4°N. Overall, benefits from warming represented 35 % of the overall yield gains in the region over this period. The results indicate substantial ongoing adaptations and benefits at north high-latitudes, although they still represent a small fraction of global maize area. The sustainability of crop area expansion in these regions remains unclear and deserves further study.     

Scenario Analysis on the Adaptation of Different Maize Varieties to Future Climate Change in Northeast China

Based on gridded meteorological data for the period 1981–2100 from the RegCM3 regional model, the changing trends of climatic resources in Northeast China are analyzed, and the distributions of maize varieties are accordingly adjusted. In order to explore the effects of different adaptation countermeasures on climatic productivity and meteorological suitability in the future, maize cultivars with resistance to high temperatures and/or drought are selected. The results show that, in the future, there is likely to be a significant increase in thermal resources, and potential atmospheric evaporation will increase correspondingly.Meanwhile, radiation is predicted to increase significantly during 2041–2070 in the growing season. However, changes in precipitation are unlikely to be sufficient enough to offset the intensification in atmospheric evaporation caused by the temperature increase. Water resources and high temperatures are found to be the two major factors constraining grain yield. The results also show that the warming climate will be favorable for maize production where thermal resources are already limited, such as in central and northern Heilongjiang Province and eastern Jilin Province; while in areas that are already relatively warm, such as Liaoning Province, climatic productivity will be reduced. The climatic productivity and the meteorological suitability of maize are found to improve when the planting of resistant varieties is modeled. The utilization of agricultural climatic resources through the adaptation countermeasures of maize varieties is to increase obviously with time. Specifically, maize with drought-resistant properties will have a marked influence on meteorological suitability during 2011–2070, with suitable areas expanding. During 2071–2100, those maize varieties with their upper limit of optimum temperature and maximum temperature increased by 2℃, or water requirement reduced to 94%, or upper limit of optimum temperature and maximum temperature increased by 1℃ and water requirement reduced to 98%, all exhibit significant differences in climatic potential productivity, compared to the present-day varieties. The meteorological suitability of maize is predicted to increase in some parts of Heilongjiang Provine, with the eastern boundary of the "unavailable" area shifting westward.     

近50年气候变暖对黑龙江省玉米增产贡献的研究

使用黑龙江省1961—2008年22个站的逐日气象资料和玉米主产县的产量资料,确立基准时段,建立气温影响系数,分析气候变暖对黑龙江省玉米单产增加/减少的贡献率。结果表明:近50年来,气候变暖总体上对黑龙江省玉米单产增加趋势有利。以1961—1969年为基准时段,相对于20世纪60年代,70年代、80年代、90年代和21世纪初气候变暖的贡献率分别为16.8%、16.0%、20.9%和23.9%;以1970—1983年为基准时段,相对于20世纪70年代,80年代、90年代和21世纪初气候变暖的贡献率分别为3.6%、9.2%和11.2%。     

近43年来黑龙江气候变化对农作物产量影响的模拟研究

从近43年来黑龙江省各地气候变化趋势的角度出发, 利用黑龙江省1961—2003年逐日气象资料, 采用世界粮食研究模型 (WOFOST) 和气候变化趋势的数学分析方法, 计算并分析了近43年来黑龙江省各地各主要作物模拟产量变化趋势的空间特征和各地气候要素变化趋势的空间特征, 讨论了气候变化趋势对主要粮食作物模拟产量变化趋势的影响。结果表明:气候变化趋势的空间差异对各主要作物模拟产量变化趋势的空间分布具有重要影响, 但不同作物影响不同。近43年来黑龙江省玉米模拟产量变化趋势增加, 平均增加幅度为4.81%/10a, 气温变化趋势的增高是其模拟产量变化趋势增加的主要气候因素。黑龙江省大豆模拟产量变化趋势总体上呈降低趋势, 平均降低幅度为1.52%/10a;气候变化趋势对北部和南部区域的大豆模拟产量变化趋势作用不同, 气温变化趋势的增高是北部大豆优势种植区域模拟产量变化趋势增加的主要气候因素, 气温和降水量的相应变化趋势是南部大豆种植区域模拟产量变化趋势降低的主要气候因素。     

Improved estimation of average warming trend of China from 1951–2010 based on satellite observed land-use data

This paper provides new evidence of regional warming trends from local Chinese observations covering the period 1951–2010. We used satellite-derived land data and weighted urban and rural temperature records (a weighted method) and estimate the regional warming trend, which involves natural climate change and human impact. The annual warming rate over the whole of China is 0.21?±?0.02 °C/decade. The seasonal warming is 0.30?±?0.05 °C/decade (Winter), 0.24 °C?±?0.03 °C/decade (Spring); 0.16?±?0.02 °C/decade (Summer) and 0.21?±?0.03 °C/decade (Autumn). The mean warming trend is lower than previous estimates (e.g. NMIC, CRU-China) using un-weighted methods (arithmetic average of all records). The warming difference between the weighted and un-weighted accounts for 27 % (12 %) of the NMIC (CRU-China) un-weighted estimate on the total warming. This indicates that previous estimations overestimated a regional warming trend. The differences can be partly attributed to the weighting of the urban effect which is taken into consideration in this study, resulting in a much slower temperature increase. Spatially, the northern part of China shows a larger difference than the south especially for winter and spring. We argue that it is of importance to take into consideration the influence of urban land-use change to improve the physical understanding of surface warming in China over past decades.     

我国东北地区玉米冷害风险评估

根据年平均寒积温水平,将东北地区的玉米冷害分成4个区域。在分析各冷害区域年寒积温距平与年减产率关系的基础上,确定东北地区各地无冷害影响年、一般冷害年、严重冷害年的年寒积温距平指标。将危险度、脆弱度和暴露度作为冷害风险的评估因子,建立了冷害风险评估指标体系,并应用层次分析法对各指标赋予权重。建立了冷害危险度与年平均寒积温的回归方程,利用地理因子构建了年平均寒积温空间格点化模型,应用地理信息系统推算东北地区玉米冷害危险度,由危险度、脆弱度和暴露度得到我国东北地区玉米冷害风险指数,并开展风险评估。结果表明:东北地区的玉米冷害风险空间分布呈北侧和南部低、东部中等、西部高,松嫩平原东北部和西北部以及吉林省中北部主要为较高或高风险区,三江平原主要为中等风险区,黑龙江省北部、吉林省东南部和辽宁省主要为较低或低风险区。     

Climate-induced changes in river water temperature in North Iberian Peninsula

With the surface air temperature (SAT) data at 37 stations on Central Yunnan Plateau (CYP) for 1961–2010 and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) nighttime light data, the temporal-spatial patterns of the SAT trends are detected using Sen’s Nonparametric Estimator of Slope approach and MK test, and the impact of urbanization on surface warming is analyzed by comparing the differences between the air temperature change trends of urban stations and their corresponding rural stations. Results indicated that annual mean air temperature showed a significant warming trend, which is equivalent to a rate of 0.17 °C/decade during the past 50 years. Seasonal mean air temperature presents a rising trend, and the trend was more significant in winter (0.31 °C/decade) than in other seasons. Annual/seasonal mean air temperature tends to increase in most areas, and higher warming trend appeared in urban areas, notably in Kunming city. The regional mean air temperature series was significantly impacted by urban warming, and the urbanization-induced warming contributed to approximately 32.3–62.9 % of the total regional warming during the past 50 years. Meantime, the urbanization-induced warming trend in winter and spring was more significant than that in summer and autumn. Since 1985, the urban heat island (UHI) intensity has gradually increased. And the urban temperatures always rise faster than rural temperatures on the CYP.     

Evaluation of Agricultural Climatic Resource Utilization During Spring Maize Cultivation in Northeast China Under Climate Change

Agricultural climatic resources （such as light,temperature,and water） are environmental factors that affect crop productivity.Predicting the effects of climate change on agricultural climatic resource utilization can provide a theoretical basis for adapting agricultural practices and distributions of agricultural production.This study investigates these effects under the IPCC （Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change） scenario A1B using daily data from the high-resolution RegCM3 （0.25° ×0.25°） during 1951-2100.Model outputs are adjusted using corrections derived from daily observational data taken at 101 meteorological stations in Northeast China between 1971 and 2000.Agricultural climatic suitability theory is used to assess demand for agricultural climatic resources in Northeast China during the cultivation of spring maize.Three indices,i.e.,an average resource suitability index （Isr）,an average efficacy suitability index （Ise）,and an average resource utilization index （K）,are defined to quantitatively evaluate the effects of climate change on climatic resource utilization between 1951 and 2100.These indices change significantly in both temporal and spatial dimensions in Northeast China under global warming.All three indices are projected to decrease in Liaoning Province from 1951 to 2100,with particularly sharp declines in Isr,Ise,and K after 2030,2021,and 2011,respectively.In Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces,Isr is projected to increase slightly after 2011,while Ise increases slightly and K decreases slightly after 2030.The spatial maxima of all three indices are projected to shift northeastward.Overall,warming of the climate in Northeast China is expected to negatively impact spring maize production,especially in Liaoning Province.Spring maize cultivation will likely need to shift northward and expand eastward to make efficient use of future agricultural climatic resources.     

Climatic constraints for the maize-soybean system in the humid subtropical region of Argentina

The implementation of two summer crops in the same growing season is a possible alternative for land intensification in areas with a long frost-free period. The aim of this study was to analyse the strategy of land intensification through the implementation of the maize-soybean succession at two locations (Reconquista, 29°09′S 59°40′W and Las Breñas, 27°05′S 61°5′W) of the humid subtropical region of Argentina. CERES-Maize and CROPGRO-Soybean models were used to evaluate the impact of inter-annual variability of climate (36 years) of both locations on rain-fed grain yields of the following productive alternatives: (i) monoculture of maize, (ii) monoculture of soybean and (iii) the succession of a short-cycle maize followed by soybean as the second summer crop (maize-soybean system). The maize-soybean system was evaluated by the method of land equivalent ratio (LER), based on the sum of the relative grain yields of its components. The impact of the inter-annual variability of climate and of “El Niño” or “La Niña” episodes (El Niño Southern Oscillation phenomenon (ENSO)) on LER values was analysed. Simulated yields of maize monoculture (5687 kg ha^?1; CV = 49.7% and 5637 kg ha^?1; CV = 57.6% at Reconquista and Las Breñas, respectively) were higher than those of the short-cycle maize, especially at Las Breñas (5448 kg ha^?1; CV = 49.3% and 2322 kg ha^?1; CV = 33.9% at Reconquista and Las Breñas, respectively). Simulated yields of the soybean monoculture were higher (3588 kg ha^?1; CV = 26.1% and 2883 kg ha^?1; CV = 20.7% at Reconquista and Las Breñas, respectively) that those of the soybean as the second crop (2634 kg ha^?1; CV = 38.1% and 2456 kg ha^?1; CV = 32.9% at Reconquista and Las Breñas, respectively) at both locations. Average LERs were 1.69 (CV = 11.4%) at Reconquista and 1.41 (CV = 26.1%) at Las Breñas, and the inter-annual variability of LER was mainly determined by grain yields of (i) soybean as the second crop at Reconquista and (ii) maize monoculture at Las Breñas. Soil water content after maize harvest and rainfalls during reproductive period of soybean as the second crop conditioned LER values, but they were generally greater than 1. At Reconquista, LER values were not affected by the different episodes of ENSO phenomenon. By contrast, at Las Breñas, LER values were higher during La Niña episodes (1.48; CV = 26.6%) than during El Niño episodes (1.32; CV = 23.7%) mainly by their effects on grain yields of maize monoculture. Therefore, crop simulation models demonstrate the possibility to intensify land use (40–70%) at two locations of the humid subtropical region of Argentina, by the implementation of the maize-soybean system.     

The biogeophysical effects of extreme afforestation in modeling future climate

Afforestation has been deployed as a mitigation strategy for global warming due to its substantial carbon sequestration, which is partly counterbalanced with its biogeophysical effects through modifying the fluxes of energy, water, and momentum at the land surface. To assess the potential biophysical effects of afforestation, a set of extreme experiments in an Earth system model of intermediate complexity, the McGill Paleoclimate Model-2 (MPM-2), is designed. Model results show that latitudinal afforestation not only has a local warming effect but also induces global and remote warming over regions beyond the forcing originating areas. Precipitation increases in the northern hemisphere and decreases in southern hemisphere in response to afforestation. The local surface warming over the forcing originating areas in northern hemisphere is driven by decreases in surface albedo and increases in precipitation. The remote surface warming in southern hemisphere is induced by decreases in surface albedo and precipitation. The results suggest that the potential impact of afforestation on regional and global climate depended critically on the location of the forest expansion. That is, afforestation in 0°–15°N leaves a relatively minor impact on global and regional temperature; afforestation in 45°–60°N results in a significant global warming, while afforestation in 30°–45°N results in a prominent regional warming. In addition, the afforestation leads to a decrease in annual mean meridional oceanic heat transport with a maximum decrease in forest expansion of 30°–45°N. These results can help to compare afforestation effects and find areas where afforestation mitigates climate change most effectively combined with its carbon drawdown effects.     

Decomposing the cascade of uncertainty in risk assessments for urban flooding reflecting critical decision-making issues

We analyze the response of Kenyan maize yields to near-term climate change and explore potential mitigation options. We model county level yields as a function of rainfall and temperature during a period of increased regional warming and drying (1989–2008). We then do a counter factual analysis by comparing existing maize yields from 2000 to 2008 to what yields might have been if observed warming and drying trends had not occurred. We also examine maize yields based on projected 2026–2040 climate trends. Without the observed warming and drying trends, Eastern Kenya would have had an 8% increase in maize yields, which in turn would have led to a net production increase of 500,000 metric tons. In Western Kenya, the magnitude of change is higher but the relative changes in predicted values are smaller. If warming and drying trends continue, we expect future maize yields to decline by 11% in Eastern Kenya (vs. 7% in Western Kenya). We also examine whether these future losses might be offset through agricultural development. For that analysis, we use a household panel dataset (2000, 2005) with measurements of individual farm plot yields, inputs, and outputs. We find that under a scenario of aggressive adoption of hybrid seeds and fertilizer usage coupled with warming and drying trends, yields in Western Kenya might increase by 6% while those in Eastern Kenya could increase by 14%. This increase in yields might be larger if there is a corresponding increase in usage of drought-tolerant hybrids. However, wide prediction intervals across models highlight the uncertainty in these outcomes and scenarios.     

Geoengineering climate by stratospheric sulfur injections: Earth system vulnerability to technological failure

We use a coupled climate–carbon cycle model of intermediate complexity to investigate scenarios of stratospheric sulfur injections as a measure to compensate for CO₂-induced global warming. The baseline scenario includes the burning of 5,000 GtC of fossil fuels. A full compensation of CO₂-induced warming requires a load of about 13 MtS in the stratosphere at the peak of atmospheric CO₂ concentration. Keeping global warming below 2°C reduces this load to 9 MtS. Compensation of CO₂ forcing by stratospheric aerosols leads to a global reduction in precipitation, warmer winters in the high northern latitudes and cooler summers over northern hemisphere landmasses. The average surface ocean pH decreases by 0.7, reducing the calcifying ability of marine organisms. Because of the millennial persistence of the fossil fuel CO₂ in the atmosphere, high levels of stratospheric aerosol loading would have to continue for thousands of years until CO₂ was removed from the atmosphere. A termination of stratospheric aerosol loading results in abrupt global warming of up to 5°C within several decades, a vulnerability of the Earth system to technological failure.     

Climate Change and Its Impacts on Grain Production in Jilin Province

 The climate observation data, reanalysis data, and grain/soybean yields per unit area were used to analyze and interpret the impact of climate change on grain production. The results show that Jilin Province was located in a remarkable increase area of temperature during the growing season (May-September) from 1948 in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The mid-west and south of Jilin Province and Liaoning Province were located in a clear linear decrease tendency area of annual precipitation, wherein a warm/dry tendency of climate change dominated, while the east of Jilin Province lay in a clear linear decrease tendency area of annual precipitation. The climate warming played an important role in continuous increase in the grain yield per unit area since the1980's in the main grain production areas of Jilin Province, however, from the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century, the beneficial effect seemed to be not obvious any longer, the grain yield per unit area fluctuated with annual precipitation.     

吉林省气候变化及其对粮食生产的影响

The climate observation data,reanalysis data,and grain/soybean yields per unit area were used to analyze and interpret the impact of climate change on grain production.The results show that Jilin Province was located in a remarkable increase area of temperature during the growing season(May-September)from 1948 in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.The mid-west and south of Jilin Province and Liaoning Province were located in a clear linear decrease tendency area of annual precipitation,wherein a warm/dry tendency of climate change dominated,while the east of Jilin Province lay in a clear linear decrease tendency area of annual precipitation.The climate warming played an important role in continuous increase in the grain yield per unit area since the 1980's in the main grain production areas of Jilin Province,however,from the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century,the beneficial effect seemed to be not obvious any longer,the grain yield per unit area fluctuated with annual precipitation.     

Quantifying the effects of climate trends in the past 43 years (1961–2003) on crop growth and water demand in the North China Plain

This paper explores changes in climatic variables, including solar radiation, rainfall, fraction of diffuse radiation (FDR) and temperature, during wheat season (October to May) and maize season (June to September) from 1961 to 2003 at four sites in the North China Plain (NCP), and then evaluates the effects of these changes on crop growth processes, productivity and water demand by using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator. A significant decline in radiation and rainfall was detected during the 43 years, while both temperature and FDR exhibit an increasing trend in both wheat and maize seasons. The average trend of each climatic variable for each crop season from the four sites is that radiation decreased by 13.2 and 6.2 MJ m^?2 a^?1, precipitation decreased by 0.1 and 1.8 mm a^?1, minimum temperature increased by 0.05 and 0.02°C a^?1, maximum temperature increased by 0.03 and 0.01°C a^?1, FDR increased by 0.21 and 0.38% a^?1 during wheat and maize season, respectively. Simulated crop water demand and potential yield was significantly decreased because of the declining trend in solar radiation. On average, crop water demand was decreased by 2.3 mm a^?1 for wheat and 1.8 mm a^?1 for maize if changes in crop variety were not considered. Simulated potential crop yields under fully irrigated condition declined about 45.3 kg ha^?1 a^?1 for wheat and 51.4 kg ha^?1 a^?1 for maize at the northern sites, Beijing and Tianjin. They had no significant changes in the southern sites, Jinan and Zhengzhou. Irrigation, fertilization development and crop variety improvement are main factors to contribute to the increase in actual crop yield for the wheat–maize double cropping system, contrasted to the decline in the potential crop yield. Further research on how the improvement in crop varieties and management practices can counteract the impact of climatic change may provide insight into the future sustainability of wheat–maize double crop rotations in the NCP.     

吉林省气候变化及其对粮食生产的影响

应用气候观测、再分析资料和吉林省粮豆单产资料,研究了气候变化对粮食生产的影响。结果表明：近40多年来在北半球中纬度地区,吉林省是夏季农业生长季（5-9月）的平均温度上升趋势最显著的地区,该省中西部、南部和辽宁省为东北地区年降水量线性减少趋势较显著的地区,气候变化以暖干倾向为主;吉林省东部为年降水量线性增加趋势的显著地区。吉林省气候变暖对自20世纪80年代以来粮豆单产的持续增长起着重要的作用,但在20世纪末期至21世纪初,这种有利作用已不明显,呈现出粮豆单产年际变化随降水量的多寡而振动的特点。     

Climate change in Bangladesh: a spatio-temporal analysis and simulation of recent temperature and rainfall data using GIS and time series analysis model

In this paper, temperature and rainfall data series were analysed from 34 meteorological stations distributed throughout Bangladesh over a 40-year period (1971 to 2010) in order to evaluate the magnitude of these changes statistically and spatially. Linear regression, coefficient of variation, inverse distance weighted interpolation techniques and geographical information systems were performed to analyse the trends, variability and spatial patterns of temperature and rainfall. Autoregressive integrated moving average time series model was used to simulate the temperature and rainfall data. The results confirm a particularly strong and recent climate change in Bangladesh with a 0.20 °C per decade upward trend of mean temperature. The highest upward trend in minimum temperature (range of 0.80–2.4 °C) was observed in the northern, northwestern, northeastern, central and central southern parts while greatest warming in the maximum temperature (range of 1.20–2.48 °C) was found in the southern, southeastern and northeastern parts during 1971–2010. An upward trend of annual rainfall (+7.13 mm per year) and downward pre-monsoon (?0.75 mm per year) and post-monsoon rainfall (?0.55 mm per year) trends were observed during this period. Rainfall was erratic in pre-monsoon season and even more so during the post-monsoon season (variability of 44.84 and 85.25 % per year, respectively). The mean forecasted temperature exhibited an increase of 0.018 °C per year in 2011–2020, and if this trend continues, this would lead to approximately 1.0 °C warmer temperatures in Bangladesh by 2020, compared to that of 1971. A greater rise is projected for the mean minimum (0.20 °C) than the mean maximum (0.16 °C) temperature. Annual rainfall is projected to decline 153 mm from 2011 to 2020, and a drying condition will persist in the northwestern, western and southwestern parts of the country during the pre- and post-monsoonal seasons.     

Temperature projection in a tropical city using remote sensing and dynamic modeling

Recent temperature projections for urban areas have only been able to reflect the expected change due to greenhouse-induced warming, with little attempt to predict urbanisation effects. This research examines temperature changes due to both global warming and urbanisation independently and applies them differentially to urban and rural areas over a sub-tropical city, Hong Kong. The effect of global warming on temperature is estimated by regressing IPCC data from eight Global Climate Models against the background temperature recorded at a rural climate station. Results suggest a mean background temperature increase of 0.67 °C by 2039. To model temperature changes for different degrees of urbanization, long-term temperature records along with a measureable urbanisation parameter, plot ratio surrounding different automatic weather stations (AWS) were used. Models representing daytime and nighttime respectively were developed, and a logarithmic relationship between the rate of temperature change and plot ratio (degree of urbanisation) is observed. Baseline air temperature patterns over Hong Kong for 2009 were derived from two ASTER thermal satellite images, for summer daytime and nighttime respectively. Dynamic raster modeling was employed to project temperatures to 2039 in 10-year intervals on a per-pixel basis according to the degree of urbanization predicted. Daytime and nighttime temperatures in the highly urbanized areas are expected to rise by ca. 2 °C by 2039. Validation by projecting observed temperature trends at AWS, gave low average RMS errors of 0.19 °C for daytime and 0.14 °C for nighttime, and suggests the reliability of the method.     

Adaptation of agriculture to warming in Northeast China

Northeast China comprises Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning Provinces, with a total area of 790,000 km² and a population of about 107 million. Northeast China, located at relatively high latitudes, (from about 39 to 53°N), is one of the coolest regions in China with long and cold winters, a short growth season and frequent cold extreme events, which are adverse to agricultural production. However, since the 1980s, Northeast China has experienced significant warming with annual mean temperature rising by 1.0–2.5°C. The increase of accumulated temperature, the extension of the growth period and the recession of summer cool disasters all contributed to improved conditions for crop growth and led to a northward movement of the agricultural climate zone. In addition, the adaptation to warming including the adjustment of crop composition and structure as well as the adoption of advanced technologies greatly facilitated agricultural development. As a result, total grain production in the region increased rapidly. This paper describes in detail climate change, adaptation measures and final agricultural outcomes, alongside with economic and political factors and the role of different political actors in Northeast China.     

Assessing climate change impacts on California hydropower generation and ancillary services provision

Climate change is already affecting species and their distributions. Distributional range changes have occurred and are projected to intensify for many widespread plants and animals, creating associated risks to many ecosystems. Here, we estimate the climate change-related risks to the species in globally significant biodiversity conservation areas over a range of climate scenarios, assessing their value as climate refugia. In particular, we quantify the aggregated benefit of countries’ emission reduction pledges (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions and Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement), and also of further constraining global warming to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, against an unmitigated scenario of 4.5 °C warming. We also quantify the contribution that can be made by using smart spatial conservation planning to facilitate some levels of autonomous (i.e. natural) adaptation to climate change by dispersal. We find that without mitigation, on average 33% of each conservation area can act as climate refugium (or 18% if species are unable to disperse), whereas if warming is constrained to 2 °C, the average area of climate refuges doubles to 67% of each conservation area (or, without dispersal, more than doubles to 56% of each area). If the country pledges are fulfilled, an intermediate estimate of 47–52% (or 31–38%, without dispersal) is obtained. We conclude that the Nationally Determined Contributions alone have important but limited benefits for biodiversity conservation, with larger benefits accruing if warming is constrained to 2 °C. Greater benefits would result if warming was constrained to well below 2 °C as set out in the Paris Agreement.