Land Use And Climate Change

• Before the industrial revolution, much of the earth’s surface was covered by forests

• However in order to feed a rapidly growing population and to satisfy demand for various industrial needs and housing, very significant land surface areas are completely modified by man

• Broadscale changes in land-use patterns, such as deforestation, can significantly alter the roughness and reflectivity of the surface to solar radiation, and hence the absorbed radiation, evaporation and evapotranspiration. In the process, changes in regional climate can occur8

• Large scale changes in land use also impact the global climate by enhancing the natural greenhouse effect, are diverse and very difficult to predict; for example by reducing the land's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide (e.g. through deforestation) and by increasing the carbon emission from the land (e.g. through increased biomass decay), both of which lead to greater concentrations of greenhouse gases

Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges

Land Use And Climate Change