Publications Published in Phil Trans R Soc Land A

1. 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. Pielke Sr., Roger A; Marland, Gregg; Betts, Richard A; Chase, Thomas N; Eastman, Joseph L; Niles, John O; Niyogi, Dev Dutta S; Running, Steven W.
   Phil Trans R Soc Land A: 2002
   Notes
   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.