How are they not both important‹the condensation releases the heat that carries the air upward, creating a pressure gradient that pulls the air ashore?
Mike On 5/31/15, 10:09 AM, "John Harte" <[email protected]> wrote: > 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.
