Potential effects of global climate change
The difficulties of detecting climatic changes do not diminish the need to examine the consequences of a changing global radiative energy balance. In part, detecting global changes is difficult (even though many, though by no means all, theoretical climatic processes are well understood) because the potential effects of changes on the unmanaged ecosystems of the globe, especially forests, which may have great human significance, involve tightly woven ecosystems, inextricably linked to global habitat. Coniferous forests are of particular interest because they dominate high-latitude forest systems, and potential effects of global climate change are likely to be greatest at high latitudes. The degree of projected climate change is a function of many likely scenarios of fossil fuel consumption, and the ratios of manmade effects to natural sources and sinks of CO{sub 2}. Because CO{sub 2}, like water vapor, CH{sub 4}, CFCs, and other gases, absorbs infrared energy, it will alter the radiation balance of the global atmosphere. The consequences of this alteration to the radiation balance cannot simply be translated into changing climate because (1) the existence of large energy reservoirs (the oceans) can introduce a lag in responses, (2) feedback loops between atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere can change the net rate of buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, (3) complex interactions in the atmospheric water balance can change the rate of cloud formation with their persistence, in turn, changing the global albedo and the energy balance, and (4) there is intrusion of other global effects, such as periodic volcanic gas injections to the stratosphere.
- Research Organization:
- Wyoming Univ., Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Botany
- OSTI ID:
- 62357
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/61253-1-Vol.1; CONF-9109550-Vol.1; TRN: 95:004108-0010
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Workshop on physiological ecology of coniferous forests, Laramie, WY (United States), 16-19 Sep 1991; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Ecophysiology of coniferous forests; Smith, W.K. [ed.] [Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Botany]; Hinckley, T.M. [ed.] [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Coll. of Forest Resources]; PB: 351 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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APPLIED STUDIES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
09 BIOMASS FUELS
CONIFERS
BIOLOGICAL STRESS
CLIMATIC CHANGE
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CARBON DIOXIDE
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
FORESTS
MINERAL CYCLING
REPRODUCTION
PLANT GROWTH
POLLUTION SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
BIOMASS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS