Publication Date:
2016-09-21
Description:
Using a global climate model, Amazonian deforestation experiments are conducted perturbing 1, 9, 25, 81 and 121 grid points, each with 5 ensemble members. All experiments show warming and drying over Amazonia. The impact of deforestation on temperature, averaged either over the affected area or a wider area, decreases by a factor of two as the scale of the perturbation increases from 1 to 121 grid points. This is associated with changes in the surface energy balance and consequential impacts on the atmosphere above the regions deforested. For precipitation, as the scale of deforestation increases from 9 to 121 grid points, the reduction in rainfall over the perturbed area decreases from ∼1.5 to ∼1 mm d −1 . However, if the surrounding area is considered and large deforestation perturbations made, compensatory increases in precipitation occur such that there is little net change. This is largely associated with changes in horizontal advection of moisture. Disagreements ...
Print ISSN:
1748-9318
Electronic ISSN:
1748-9326
Topics:
Biology
,
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
Permalink
