Title
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
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A
Publication Date
8-2002
Volume
360
Issue
1797
First Page
1705
Last Page
1719
Abstract
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.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2002.1027
Rights
© 2002 The Royal Society
Recommended Citation
Pielke Sr., R. A., Marland G., Betts R. A., Chase T. N., Eastman J. L., Niles J. O., Niyogi D., and Running S. W. (2002). 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, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A, 360: 1705-1719, DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2002.1027