AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
2006 Fall Meeting

Will afforestestion strategies help mitigate global warming?

AU: Caldeira, K
EM: kcaldeira@globalecology.stanford.edu
AF: Carnegie Institution, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
AU: Wickett, M
EM: wickett1@llnl.gov
AF: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-103 Energy and
Environment Directorate 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550 United
States
AU: Phillips, T
EM: phillips14@llnl.gov
AF: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-103 Energy and
Environment Directorate 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550 United
States
AU: Lobell, D
EM: lobell2@llnl.gov
AF: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-103 Energy and
Environment Directorate 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550 United
States

ABSTRACT: The prevention of deforestation and promotion of
afforestation have often been cited as strategies to slow down and
mitigate global warming. Deforestation releases CO2 to the
atmosphere, which exerts a warming influence on Earth's climate.
However, biophysical effects of deforestation, which include changes
in land surface albedo, and evapotranspiration with associated
changes in the cloud cover, also affect climate. While changes in
albedo are expected to cool the surface and the evapotranspiration
changes could result in warming. What are the combined carbon cycle
and climate effects of deforestation? Here we present simulations
from a three- dimensional coupled global carbon-cycle and climate
model indicating that, on a global-mean basis, deforestation has a
net cooling influence on Earth's climate. The warming carbon-cycle
effects of deforestation are more than offset by the net biophysical
cooling. Our results imply that attempts to slow global warming by
promoting afforestation are likely to be counter- productive in
Northern mid- and high-latitudes, and ineffective elsewhere. We
stress, however, that forests are environmentally valuable resources
even if they exert a net warming influence on the global climate

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Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers
Working at the Crossroads of Environmental and Human Rights since 1990
PO Box 7941
Missoula Montana 59807
(406)728-0867

posted to the Yahoo Group ClimateConcern


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