William F. Laurance
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198567066
- eISBN:
- 9780191717888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567066.003.0003
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
In the tropics, habitat fragmentation alters forest-climate interactions in diverse ways. On a local scale (<1 km), elevated desiccation and wind disturbance near fragment margins lead to sharply ...
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In the tropics, habitat fragmentation alters forest-climate interactions in diverse ways. On a local scale (<1 km), elevated desiccation and wind disturbance near fragment margins lead to sharply increased tree mortality, altering canopy-gap dynamics, plant-community composition, biomass dynamics, and carbon storage. Fragmented forests are also highly vulnerable to edge-related fires, especially in regions which have periodic droughts or strong dry seasons. At landscape to regional scales (10-1,000 km), habitat fragmentation may have complex effects on forest-climate interactions, with important consequences for atmospheric circulation, water cycling, and precipitation. Positive feedbacks among deforestation, regional climate change, and fire could pose a serious threat for some tropical forests, but the details of such interactions are poorly understood.Less
In the tropics, habitat fragmentation alters forest-climate interactions in diverse ways. On a local scale (<1 km), elevated desiccation and wind disturbance near fragment margins lead to sharply increased tree mortality, altering canopy-gap dynamics, plant-community composition, biomass dynamics, and carbon storage. Fragmented forests are also highly vulnerable to edge-related fires, especially in regions which have periodic droughts or strong dry seasons. At landscape to regional scales (10-1,000 km), habitat fragmentation may have complex effects on forest-climate interactions, with important consequences for atmospheric circulation, water cycling, and precipitation. Positive feedbacks among deforestation, regional climate change, and fire could pose a serious threat for some tropical forests, but the details of such interactions are poorly understood.
Richard A. Minnich
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520246058
- eISBN:
- 9780520932272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520246058.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This chapter starts by exploring some basic principles of weather. It then describes California’s Mediterranean climate from the standpoint of atmospheric circulation. This is followed by short-term ...
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This chapter starts by exploring some basic principles of weather. It then describes California’s Mediterranean climate from the standpoint of atmospheric circulation. This is followed by short-term weather conditions associated with fire spread, and climate variability and its possible role in fire regimes. The Mediterranean climate results from seasonal changes in global circulation, including California’s marginal position to the jet stream and the presence of cold, upwelling ocean waters offshore. The weather influences fire outcomes by altering vegetation fuel moisture and the efficiency of heat transfer in combustion. The El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation influence the amount and distribution of water vapor that is evaporated into the air, condensed into clouds, and rained back to earth. The effect of precipitation variability is modulated by patch structure in which changes in regional fire hazard result in only finite portions of stands achieving flammability thresholds.Less
This chapter starts by exploring some basic principles of weather. It then describes California’s Mediterranean climate from the standpoint of atmospheric circulation. This is followed by short-term weather conditions associated with fire spread, and climate variability and its possible role in fire regimes. The Mediterranean climate results from seasonal changes in global circulation, including California’s marginal position to the jet stream and the presence of cold, upwelling ocean waters offshore. The weather influences fire outcomes by altering vegetation fuel moisture and the efficiency of heat transfer in combustion. The El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation influence the amount and distribution of water vapor that is evaporated into the air, condensed into clouds, and rained back to earth. The effect of precipitation variability is modulated by patch structure in which changes in regional fire hazard result in only finite portions of stands achieving flammability thresholds.
Jost Heintzenberg and Robert J. Charlson (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262012874
- eISBN:
- 9780262255448
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262012874.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Climate
More than half the globe is covered by visible clouds. Clouds control major parts of the Earth’s energy balance, influencing both incoming shortwave solar radiation and outgoing longwave thermal ...
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More than half the globe is covered by visible clouds. Clouds control major parts of the Earth’s energy balance, influencing both incoming shortwave solar radiation and outgoing longwave thermal radiation. Latent heating and cooling related to cloud processes modify atmospheric circulation, and, by modulating sea surface temperatures, clouds affect the oceanic circulation. They are also an essential component of the global water cycle, on which all terrestrial life depends. Yet clouds constitute the most poorly quantified, least understood, and most puzzling aspect of atmospheric science, and thus the largest source of uncertainty in the prediction of climate change. Because they are influenced by climate change, and because complex, unidentified feedback systems are involved, science is faced with many unanswered questions. This book begins by identifying and describing the baffling nature of clouds. It explores the boundaries of current knowledge on the spatial/temporal variability of clouds and cloud-related aerosols, as well as the factors that control clouds, and examines the extent and nature of anthropogenic perturbations. Particular emphasis is placed on the connections of clouds to climate through radiation, dynamics, precipitation, and chemistry, and on the difficulties in understanding the obvious but elusive fact that clouds must be affected by climate change. The book offers recommendations to improve the current state of knowledge and to direct future research in fields ranging from chemistry and theoretical physics to climate modeling and remote satellite sensing.Less
More than half the globe is covered by visible clouds. Clouds control major parts of the Earth’s energy balance, influencing both incoming shortwave solar radiation and outgoing longwave thermal radiation. Latent heating and cooling related to cloud processes modify atmospheric circulation, and, by modulating sea surface temperatures, clouds affect the oceanic circulation. They are also an essential component of the global water cycle, on which all terrestrial life depends. Yet clouds constitute the most poorly quantified, least understood, and most puzzling aspect of atmospheric science, and thus the largest source of uncertainty in the prediction of climate change. Because they are influenced by climate change, and because complex, unidentified feedback systems are involved, science is faced with many unanswered questions. This book begins by identifying and describing the baffling nature of clouds. It explores the boundaries of current knowledge on the spatial/temporal variability of clouds and cloud-related aerosols, as well as the factors that control clouds, and examines the extent and nature of anthropogenic perturbations. Particular emphasis is placed on the connections of clouds to climate through radiation, dynamics, precipitation, and chemistry, and on the difficulties in understanding the obvious but elusive fact that clouds must be affected by climate change. The book offers recommendations to improve the current state of knowledge and to direct future research in fields ranging from chemistry and theoretical physics to climate modeling and remote satellite sensing.
William F. Fitzgerald, Chad R. Hammerschmidt, Daniel R. Engstrom, Prentiss H. Balcom, Carl H. Lamborg, and Chun-Mao Tseng
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199860401
- eISBN:
- 9780190267889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199860401.003.0009
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This chapter discusses mercury cycling and contamination in the Alaskan arctic. It provides a framework for investigating the behavior and fate of many contaminants in polar regions. It looks into ...
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This chapter discusses mercury cycling and contamination in the Alaskan arctic. It provides a framework for investigating the behavior and fate of many contaminants in polar regions. It looks into the role atmospheric circulation and chemistry in affecting the transport and deposition of both inorganic and organic substrates on local and global scales. It analyzes a series of reports by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program in determining mechanisms that transport contaminants, including mercury, to the arctic and identifies their effects on the arctic ecosystem.Less
This chapter discusses mercury cycling and contamination in the Alaskan arctic. It provides a framework for investigating the behavior and fate of many contaminants in polar regions. It looks into the role atmospheric circulation and chemistry in affecting the transport and deposition of both inorganic and organic substrates on local and global scales. It analyzes a series of reports by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program in determining mechanisms that transport contaminants, including mercury, to the arctic and identifies their effects on the arctic ecosystem.
E. C. Pielou
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226668062
- eISBN:
- 9780226668055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226668055.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Natural History and Field Guides
Wherever the wind blows, some of its energy is dissipated — converted to entropy — by the shearing of air against air; this happens at all elevations. However, the losses are far greater in the ...
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Wherever the wind blows, some of its energy is dissipated — converted to entropy — by the shearing of air against air; this happens at all elevations. However, the losses are far greater in the lower-most layer because of friction with the surface — the drag of moving air as it passes across land or water. Drag also affects the direction of the wind, making atmospheric circulation far more complicated than it is aloft. This chapter discusses the following: surface winds; vertical movements of the air; water vapor and energy transfers; storms; how atmospheric energy is dissipated; and the energy in a rainstorm.Less
Wherever the wind blows, some of its energy is dissipated — converted to entropy — by the shearing of air against air; this happens at all elevations. However, the losses are far greater in the lower-most layer because of friction with the surface — the drag of moving air as it passes across land or water. Drag also affects the direction of the wind, making atmospheric circulation far more complicated than it is aloft. This chapter discusses the following: surface winds; vertical movements of the air; water vapor and energy transfers; storms; how atmospheric energy is dissipated; and the energy in a rainstorm.
