Both carbon dioxide uptake and albedo of the land surface affect global climate. However, climate change mitigation by increasing carbon uptake can cause a warming trade-off by decreasing albedo, with most research focusing on afforestation and its interaction with snow. Here, we present carbon uptake and albedo observations from 176 globally distributed flux stations. We demonstrate a gradual decline in maximum achievable annual albedo as carbon uptake increases, even within subgroups of non-forest and snow-free ecosystems. Based on a paired-site permutation approach, we quantify the likely impact of land use on carbon uptake and albedo. Shifting to the maximum attainable carbon uptake at each site would likely cause moderate net global warming for the first approximately 20 years, followed by a strong cooling effect. A balanced policy co-optimizing carbon uptake and albedo is possible that avoids warming on any timescale, but results in a weaker long-term cooling effect.

A N Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution Russian Academy of Sciences 119071 Leninsky pr 33 Moscow Russia

Andalusian Institute for Earth System Research 18071 Granada Spain

Bioclimatology University of Göttingen Göttingen Germany

CESBIO Université de Toulouse CNES CNRS INRA IRD UPS Toulouse France

Departament of Ecology University of Granada 18071 Granada Spain

Department Computational Hydrosystems Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research Permoserstr 15 04318 Leipzig Germany

Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences University of Wisconsin Madison Madison WI USA

Department of Chemical Engineering University of Liège Liège Belgium

Department of Environmental Systems Science ETH Zürich Universitätstrasse 2 Zürich 8092 Switzerland

Department of Geography University of Tartu Tartu Estonia

Department of Natural Sciences Macquarie University North Ryde NSW 2109 Australia

Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science Lund University Lund Sweden

Division of Energy Environment and Society University of Dundee Dundee UK

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department Centre for Earth Observation Sciences Edmonton AB Canada

European Commission Joint Research Centre Ispra Italy

Faculty of Agricultural Environmental and Food Sciences Free University of Bolzano Piazza Università 5 39100 Bolzano Italy

Global Change Research Institute CAS Bělidla 986 4a CZ 60300 Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Bio and Geosciences Agrosphere Research Centre Jülich Jülich Germany

Institute of Bio and Geosciences Plant Sciences Research Centre Jülich Jülich Germany

Institute of Landscape Ecology University of Münster Münster Germany

Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement LSCE IPSL CEA CNRS UVSQ Université Paris Saclay Gif sur Yvette 91191 France

Physical Geography and Climatology Institute of Geography RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems National Research Council Sesto Fiorentino Italy

Technische Universität Dresden Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology Dresden Germany

Thünen Institute of Climate Smart Agriculture Braunschweig Germany

Universität Innsbruck Institut für Ökologie Innsbruck Austria

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Joint optimization of land carbon uptake and albedo can help achieve moderate instantaneous and long-term cooling effects