The work of Makarieva and Gorshkov (note: not Gorshkov and Makarieva; she is first author on their papers on this topic) is challenging atmospheric scientists not because it points to the huge role of forests in the hydrocycle (I have been teaching that for decades) but rather the specific mechanism they propose. Their argument is that it is the pressure difference created by condensation, not the heat released by condensation, that is the more important driver. Certainly both play a big role; my understanding is that the pressure effect was largely ignored in the past. John Harte Professor of Ecosystem Sciences ERG/ESPM 310 Barrows Hall University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 USA [email protected]
On May 30, 2015, at 2:49 PM, Brian Cartwright <[email protected]> wrote: > To the geoengineering group, > > I'm curious whether group members are familiar with the "biotic pump" model > of Gorshkov and Makarieva; this article gives a quick introduction: > > http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0130-hance-physics-biotic-pump.html > > A big climate benefit of inland forests is that phase change from > evapotranspiration -> condensation creates low-pressure areas that pull in > moisture and create healthy weather circulation. Seems to me that widespread > deforestation is aggravating stalled hot-weather trends by blocking this kind > of circulation. The leaf area of a mature forest offers considerably more > surface area for evaporation than the same area of open water on ocean or > inland lake. > > Brian Cartwright > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
