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14 - Forest Macroclimates

from Part II - The Scientific Basis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2023

Gordon Bonan
Affiliation:
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
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Summary

The processes by which forests influence large-scale climate are well known, but the specific response to changes in forest cover varies with background climate (e.g., tropical, temperate, boreal), the extent of forest change and type of conversion, and time of year, and differs between day and night. Forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thereby lessening planetary warming. Forests also affect climate through exchanges of energy, water, and momentum with the atmosphere, which can warm or cool the climate depending on geographic location, time of year, and time of day. There is a distinct latitudinal pattern from tropical to temperate to boreal forests, with different influences on temperature and different underlying mechanisms. In general, forests cool the daytime surface climate during the growing season through evapotranspiration and other non-radiative processes, and they warm the nighttime climate. Outside of the growing season, forests are generally warmer than open fields, especially in locations where snow is present. Further climate influences occur through chemical emissions that produce aerosols. Much of this understanding comes from models of Earth’s climate.

Type
Chapter
Information
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Forests, Climate Change, and Our Future
, pp. 168 - 183
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Forest Macroclimates
  • Gordon Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
  • Online publication: 02 February 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108601559.015
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  • Forest Macroclimates
  • Gordon Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
  • Online publication: 02 February 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108601559.015
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Forest Macroclimates
  • Gordon Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
  • Online publication: 02 February 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108601559.015
Available formats
×