Land Use Affects Climate Change

Land surface changes may be as much to blame for

global climate change as greenhouse gases, according to research by Roger Pielke Sr., professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, and his colleagues. The study, published in a recent issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London and released by NASA in October, shows that land-use changes, such as irrigation, deforestation, and urbanization, redistribute heat in the atmosphere, dramatically altering climate patterns.