Preferential cooling of hot extremes from cropland albedo management.

ABSTRACT: Changes in agricultural practices are considered a possible option to mitigate climate change. In particular, reducing or suppressing tillage (no-till) may have the potential to sequester carbon in soils, which could help slow global warming. On the other hand, such practices also have a direct effect on regional climate by altering the physical properties of the land surface. These biogeophysical effects, however, are still poorly known. Here we show that no-till management increases the surface albedo of croplands in summer and that the resulting cooling effect is amplified during hot extremes, thus attenuating peak temperatures reached during heat waves. Using a regional climate model accounting for the observed effects of no-till farming on surface albedo, as well as possible reduction

SUBMITTER: Davin EL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4103336 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature