Premium
Biogeophysical impacts of cropland management changes on climate
Author(s) -
Lobell D. B.,
Bala G.,
Duffy P. B.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl025492
Subject(s) - environmental science , albedo (alchemy) , climate change , climate model , tillage , climatology , irrigation , greenhouse gas , biogeochemical cycle , global warming , atmospheric sciences , ecology , geology , oceanography , art , performance art , biology , art history
It is well known that expansion of agriculture into natural ecosystems can have important climatic consequences, but changes occurring within existing croplands also have the potential to effect local and global climate. To better understand the impacts of cropland management practices, we used the NCAR CAM3 general circulation model coupled to a slab‐ocean model to simulate climate change under extreme scenarios of irrigation, tillage, and crop productivity. Compared to a control scenario, increases in irrigation and leaf area index and reductions in tillage all have a physical cooling effect by causing increases in planetary albedo. The cooling is most pronounced for irrigation, with simulated local cooling up to ∼8°C and global land surface cooling of 1.3°C. Increases in soil albedo through reduced tillage are found to have a global cooling effect (∼0.2°C) comparable to the biogeochemical cooling from reported carbon sequestration potentials. By identifying the impacts of extreme scenarios at local and global scales, this study effectively shows the importance of considering different aspects of crop management in the development of climate models, analysis of observed climate trends, and design of policy intended to mitigate climate change.