Impacts of Tropical Deforestation. Part I: Process Analysis of Local Climatic Change

Zhang, H.; Henderson‐Sellers, A.; McGuffie, K.

doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1996)009<1497:iotdpi>2.0.co;2

Cited by 165 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…While large-scale deforestation, especially in the tropics, has been identified as a potential source of local and global climate impacts [Zhang et al, 1996;Bonan et al, 1992;Chase et al, 1996], the effects on regional weather and climate due to localized changes in land use in the midlatitudes is relatively undocumented (e.g., see Cotton and Pielke [1995] for a survey as of 1992). Significant disruptions in the natural state of the land surface at midlatitudes can be seen to perhaps no greater extent than on the Great Plains in northeastern Colorado.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential impacts on Colorado Rocky Mountain weather due to land use changes on the adjacent Great Plains

Chase¹,

Pielke²,

Kittel³

et al. 1999

J. Geophys. Res.

124

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Abstract. Evidence from both meteorological stations and vegetational successional studies suggests that summer temperatures are decreasing in the mountain-plain system in northeast Colorado, particularly since the early 1980s. These trends are coincident with large changes in regional land cover. Trends in global, Northern Hemisphere and continental surface temperatures over the same period are insignificant. These observations suggest that changes in the climate of this mountain-plain system may be, in some part, a result of localized forcing mechanisms. In this study the effects of land use change on the northern Colorado plains, where large regions of grasslands have been transformed into both dry and irrigated agricultural lands, on regional weather is examined in an effort to understand this local deviation from larger-scale trends. We find with high-resolution numerical simulations of a 3-day summer period using a regional atmospheric-land surface model that replacing grasslands with irrigated and dry farmland can have impacts on regional weather and therefore climate which are not limited to regions of direct forcing. Higher elevations remote from regions of land use change are affected as well. Specifically, cases with altered landcover had cooler, moister boundary layers, and diminished low-level upslope winds over portions of the plains. At higher elevations, temperatures also were lower as was low-level convergence. Precipitation and cloud cover were substantially affected in mountain regions. We advance the hypothesis that observed land use changes may have already had a role in explaining part of the observed climate record in the northern Colorado mountain-plain system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential impacts on Colorado Rocky Mountain weather due to land use changes on the adjacent Great Plains

Chase¹,

Pielke²,

Kittel³

et al. 1999

J. Geophys. Res.

124

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show abstract

“…After cutting the forest, the observed warming and rising CO 2 concentration enhance each other's effect and the joint impact on exerted on the climate will be bigger than the two effects of two separate factors. In situ measurement and simulations show that average monthly precipitation drops by 26.4 mm after deforestation and in case of high CO 2 concentration (Zhang et al, 1996). Zhang et al, (2001) assessed the joint impact of climate change and deforestation.…”

Section: Human Activity and Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Rainforests at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Mics¹

2013

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract.Rainforests are situated at low latitude where forests enjoy steady and strong radiation. Biodiversity in rainforests has been very high, for historical and climatic reasons. The number of species is very high and tends to increase with precipitation and decrease with seasonality. Disturbance, soil fertility and forest stature also influence the species richness and high turnover of species contribute to diversity. Field observation and studies revealed that large scale deforestation could alter the regional and global climate significantly. Deforestation alters the surface albedo which leads to climate change. Regional land use contributes to climate change through surface-energy budget, as well as the carbon cycle. Forest fragmentation, logging, overhunting, fire and the expanding agriculture threaten the biodiversity. Rainforest covered area has significantly shrunk in the last decades. It is hard to protect the forests because of the growing demand for agricultural area and forest-derived products. Most measures proved ineffective to slow down the destruction. Hence, more forest will be lost in the future. Conservationists should take into consideration the secondary forests because biodiversity can be high enough and it is worth protecting them.

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“…Among other vegetation change studies, Zhang et al (1996aZhang et al ( , 1996b performed numerical simulations of the potential impact of tropical deforestation in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia using a climate model coupled with a realistic land surface model. Zhang et al (1996b) discussed the influence of tropical deforestation on the large-scale climate system.…”

Section: Impact On the Mid-latitude Atmospheric Circulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the past, numerous studies have focused on land surface processes and interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere. In particular, tropical vegetation controls the physical and biogeochemical interactions in climatically influential areas over the Earth, and plays important roles in forming regional and global climates (Henderson-Sellers et al, 1993;Zhang et al, 1996aZhang et al, , 1996bHahmann & Dickinson, 1997;Lean & Rowntree, 1997;Xue, 1997;Clark et al, 2001;Hales et al, 2004;Snyder et al, 2004). Werth & Avissar (2002 investigated the impacts of deforestations in Amazonia, Africa, and Southeast Asia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Investigation of the Interaction Between Land Surface Processes and Climate

Mabuchi¹

2012

Climate Models

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Impacts of Tropical Deforestation. Part I: Process Analysis of Local Climatic Change

Cited by 165 publications

References 8 publications

Potential impacts on Colorado Rocky Mountain weather due to land use changes on the adjacent Great Plains

Potential impacts on Colorado Rocky Mountain weather due to land use changes on the adjacent Great Plains

Rainforests at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Numerical Investigation of the Interaction Between Land Surface Processes and Climate

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