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Sep
13
2009
Reduced plant cover could make some deserts expand faster
As global warming dries out parts of the Earth, the loss of vegetation could hasten expansion of the world’s subtropical deserts, according to a study in Geophysical Research Letters.
Climate models predict that rainfall will decrease in subtropical areas as the planet warms. The drying could cause some plant life to disappear, increasing the amount of sunlight that the surface reflects. That change in reflectivity or “albedo” has the potential to alter moisture patterns, reducing rainfall even further, the authors say.
The team simulated changes in climate and vegetation from 1901 to 2099. When they ignored changes in albedo due to vegetation loss, the model predicted that the world’s warm deserts would increase by 2.5 million square kilometers. But when they accounted for the higher albedo, the estimate went up to 8.5 million square kilometers.
Much of the expansion would come from the Sahara, Kalahari, Gobi, and Great Sandy Deserts, they report. The researchers urge the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to consider these effects in upcoming climate predictions. – Roberta Kwok
Source: Zeng, N., & Yoon, J. (2009). Expansion of the world’s deserts due to vegetation-albedo feedback under global warming Geophysical Research Letters, 36 (17) DOI: 10.1029/2009GL039699
Image © mariusFM77, iStockPhoto.com
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Hilarious. These are some great models they are using.
Satellite OBSERVATION OF REALITY shows fringe regions of the Sahara becoming Savannah at a rate exceeding anything previously predicted. Especially by these Fisher Price climate models.
But here is where alarmism trumps even basic logical consistency. Is global warming going to cause the horrible storms and increasingly active hurricanes we have heard predicted, or will it make everything a desert? Since increased desertification means less humidity, and water vapor is the primary greenhouse driver, then won’t it get cooler again (ie. the self regulating mechanisms that the climate has used for billions of years)? Do we believe computer predictions of what will allegedly happen in decades, or do we believe the actual observational data that we have right now? Do you think whatever ACTUALLY MADE THE DESERTS DESERTS millions of years before man, may also have some influence? And is this maybe just evolution?…you know the evolution that DEFINITELY took place in lieu of creation, and in a world where the temperature, CO2, animal species, weather, and climate allegedly never changed in millions of years. Yeah maybe that’s it.
If this sounds like a hodgepodge of half baked ideas to you too, its not a coincidence. “Warmers” will believe ANYTHING. Anything that validates them for being failures, and villifies any person, company or nation that actually achieves success through work. So consistency, logic, and the actual facts are only relevant when they support the point.
Facts-be-damned Science. Compliments of the Global Warming lobby.
Thanks but no thanks.