Land use/land cover changes and climate: modeling analysis and observational evidence

TLDR

Landscape changes from human land management may influence large‑scale atmospheric circulation far beyond the sites of alteration. The study aims to summarize how human land‑use and land‑cover changes over centuries have modified biogeophysical and biogeochemical surface fluxes at local, mesoscale, and regional scales. The authors use observed and modeled data to document these flux changes. Existing climate assessments have not yet incorporated this land‑use forcing, and neglecting it risks misaligning climate mitigation and adaptation investments in heavily altered or future‑altered regions. Published in WIREs Climate Change 2011, 2:828–850, doi:10.1002/wcc.144.

Abstract

Abstract This article summarizes the changes in landscape structure because of human land management over the last several centuries, and using observed and modeled data, documents how these changes have altered biogeophysical and biogeochemical surface fluxes on the local, mesoscale, and regional scales. Remaining research issues are presented including whether these landscape changes alter large‐scale atmospheric circulation patterns far from where the land use and land cover changes occur. We conclude that existing climate assessments have not yet adequately factored in this climate forcing. For those regions that have undergone intensive human landscape change, or would undergo intensive change in the future, we conclude that the failure to factor in this forcing risks a misalignment of investment in climate mitigation and adaptation. WIREs Clim Change 2011, 2:828–850. doi: 10.1002/wcc.144 This article is categorized under: Paleoclimates and Current Trends > Climate Forcing