title: Local cooling and warming effects of forests based on satellite observations.
abstract: The biophysical effects of forests on climate have been extensively studied with climate models. However, models cannot accurately reproduce local climate effects due to their coarse spatial resolution and uncertainties, and field observations are valuable but often insufficient due to their limited coverage. Here we present new evidence acquired from global satellite data to analyse the biophysical effects of forests on local climate. Results show that tropical forests have a strong cooling effect throughout the year; temperate forests show moderate cooling in summer and moderate warming in winter with net cooling annually; and boreal forests have strong warming in winter and moderate cooling in summer with net warming annually. The spatiotemporal cooling or warming effects are mainly driven by the two competing biophysical effects, evapotranspiration and albedo, which in turn are strongly influenced by rainfall and snow. Implications of our satellite-based study could be useful for informing local forestry policies.
authors.affiliation: College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of The Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|The Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Maosheng
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8183-2954
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA.|National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), Annapolis, Maryland 21401, USA.
authors.forename: Safa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Motesharrei
authors.affiliation: Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA.
authors.forename: Qiaozhen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|The Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalnay
authors.affiliation: College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of The Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Shuangcheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002980:Climate; D057231:Climate Change; D058735:Environmental Policy; D065928:Forests; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D065947:Rainforest; D018531:Spacecraft; D066188:Taiga; D013696:Temperature
references.citation: Science. 2006 Nov 17;314(5802):1130-2
references.pmid: 17110574
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Apr 17;104(16):6550-5
references.pmid: 17420463
references.citation: Science. 2008 Jun 13;320(5882):1444-9
references.pmid: 18556546
references.citation: Science. 2011 Aug 19;333(6045):988-93
references.pmid: 21764754
references.citation: Nature. 2011 Nov 17;479(7373):384-7
references.pmid: 22094699
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jan 17;109(3):712-6
references.pmid: 22190490
references.citation: Glob Chang Biol. 2013 Apr;19(4):1211-22
references.pmid: 23504897
references.citation: Science. 2013 Nov 15;342(6160):850-3
references.pmid: 24233722
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Feb 25;111(8):2915-9
references.pmid: 24516135