The influence of land-use change and landscape dynamics on the climate system: relevance to climate-change policy beyond the radiative effect of greenhouse gases

The influence of land-use change and landscape dynamics on the climate system: relevance to climate-change policy beyond the radiative effect of greenhouse gases

Our paper documents that land-use change impacts regional and global climate through the surface-energy budget, as well as through the carbon cycle. The surface-energy budget effects may be more important than the carbon-cycle effects. However, land-use impacts on climate cannot be adequately quanti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 2002-08, Vol.360 (1797), p.1705-1719
Main Authors: Pielke, Roger A., Marland, Gregg, Betts, Richard A., Chase, Thomas N., Eastman, Joseph L., Niles, John O., Niyogi, Dev dutta S., Running, Steven W.
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Agriculture
Albedo
Biomass
Carbon Dioxide
Climate
Climate change
Climate models
Climate-System Dynamics
Climatic zones
Earth (Planet)
Ecosystem
Environment
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Geography
Global Climate Change
Global climate models
Greenhouse Effect
Land cover
Landscape Change
Landscape Dynamics
Landscapes
Models, Theoretical
Part 2. Environmental Services
Public Policy
Radiative forcing
Regional Climate Change
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Summary:Our paper documents that land-use change impacts regional and global climate through the surface-energy budget, as well as through the carbon cycle. The surface-energy budget effects may be more important than the carbon-cycle effects. However, land-use impacts on climate cannot be adequately quantified with the usual metric of 'global warming potential'. A new metric is needed to quantify the human disturbance of the Earth's surface-energy budget. This 'regional climate change potential' could offer a new metric for developing a more inclusive climate protocol. This concept would also implicitly provide a mechanism to monitor potential local-scale environmental changes that could influence biodiversity.
ISSN:1364-503X
1471-2962