Researchers have completed a study that found that almost all changes in land cover that removes vegetative cover results in increased surface temperatures. The findings are already adding significant weight to the recognition that land use change needs to be incorporated into computer models that are designed to forecast climate changes.

The team was made up of researchers from the University of Maryland, Purdue University and the University of Colorado. They used the observation minus reanalysis (OMR) method, which proved successful for estimating the impact of local and regional land cover changes on temperature trends. The findings will be published in the Royal Meteorological Society’s International Journal of Climatology.

You can read more about this research on the University of Maryland website.

Read more related Spatial Sustain posts:

• NASA Commits Funds to a Cloud Interface for Climate Change Modeling
• Ship Logs Aid Climate Study
• No Sign of NSDI Yet
• NCAR Adds Supercomputer to Study Climate Change
• The Land Change Modeler from Clark Labs Gets Support from Google.org