Green Is Cool, But U.S. Land Changes Generally Are Not

Newswise.com
Released: 11/2/2009 9:00 PM EST
Source: University of Maryland, College Park

Newswise — Most land-use changes occurring in the continental United States reduce vegetative cover and raise regional surface temperatures, says a new study by scientists at the University of Maryland, Purdue University, and the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The study, which will appear in the Royal Meteorological Society’s International Journal of Climatology, found that almost any change that makes land cover less "green" contributes to warming. However, a less intuitive finding is that conversion of any land to agricultural use results in cooling, even land that was previously forested.

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Link to the article in the International Journal of Climatology