Review of the Role of Land Surface in Global Climate Change

Abstract

In response to the abrupt climate change in recent years, atmosphere, ocean and cryosphere are reported to be altered. In addition to these changes, the land surface is also gradually changing and its impact on the global climate may not be negligible. The land surface change impacts the global climate via two ways, the biogeochemical and biophysical feedbacks. The biogeochemcial change in the land surface modifies the atmospheric trace-gas concentrations through a change in photo synthesis, while biophycal changes of the land surface alters the surface albedo, which influences the amount of the short wave radiative heat fluxes. There are many examples in the past that the change in land surface greatly influences the global climate change. The recent IPCC report has suggested that the climate change will occur rather abrubtly in the near future. In order to predict the future climate accurately, the impact of the land surface change is fully considered.