Abstract
We quantify the maximum possible influence of vegetation on the global climate by conducting two extreme climate model simulations: in a first simulation (‘desert world’), values representative of a desert are used for the land surface parameters for all non glaciated land regions. At the other extreme, a second simulation is performed (‘green planet’) in which values are used which are most beneficial for the biosphere's productivity. Land surface evapotranspiration more than triples in the presence of the ‘green planet’, land precipitation doubles (as a second order effect) and near surface temperatures are lower by as much as 8 K in the seasonal mean resulting from the increase in latent heat flux. The differences can be understood in terms of more absorbed radiation at the surface and increased recycling of water. Most of the increase in net surface radiation originates from less thermal radiative loss and not from increases in solar radiation which would be expected from the albedo change. To illustrate the differences in climatic character and what it would imply for the vegetation type, we use the Köppen climate classification. Both cases lead to similar classifications in the extra tropics and South America indicating that the character of the climate is not substantially altered in these regions. Fundamental changes occur over Africa, South Asia and Australia, where large regions are classified as arid (grassland/desert) climate in the ‘desert world’ simulation while classified as a forest climate in the ‘green planet’ simulation as a result of the strong influence of maximum vegetation on the climate. This implies that these regions are especially sensitive to biosphere-atmosphere interaction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Batjes, N. H.: 1996, ‘Development of a World Data Set of Soil Water Retention Properties Using Pedotransfer Rules, Geoderma 71, 31-52.
Bonan, G. B., Pollard D., and Thompson S. L.: 1992, ‘Effects of Boreal Forest Vegetation on Global Climate’, Nature 359, 716-718.
Budyko, M. I.: 1974, Climate and Life, Academic Press, New York, p. 508.
Charney, J. G.: 1975, ‘Dynamics of Deserts and Drought in the Sahel’, Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 101, 193-202.
Claussen, M.: 1994, ‘On Coupling Global Biome Models with Climate Models’, Clim. Res. 4, 203-221.
Claussen, M., Lohmann U., Roeckner E., and Schulzweida, U.: 1994, ‘A Global Data Set of Land Surface Parameters’, Report 135, Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg.
Claussen, M.: 1998, ‘On Multiple Solutions of the Atmosphere-Vegetation System in Present-Day Climate’, Global Change Biol. 4, 549-559.
Dümenil, L. and Todini E.: 1992, ‘A Rainfall-Runoff Scheme for Use in the Hamburg Climate Model’, in Kane, J. (ed.), Advances in Theoretical Hydrology-a Tribute to James Dooge, Elseviers Science Publishers, Amsterdam, pp. 129-157.
Eltahir, E. A. B.: 1998. ‘A Soil Moisture-Rainfall Feedback Mechanism. 1. Theory and Observations’, Water Resour. Res. 34, 765-776.
Foley, J. A., Prentice, I. C., Ramankutty, N., Levis, S., Pollard, D., Sitch, S., and Haxeltine, A.: 1996, ‘An Integrated Biosphere Model of Land Surface Processes, Terrestrial Carbon Balance, and Vegetation Dynamics’, Global Biogeochem. Cycles 10, 603-628.
Gates, W. L., Boyle, J. S., Covey, C., Dease, C. G., Doutriaux, C. M., Drach, R. S., Fiorino, M., Glecker, P. J., Hnilo, J. J., Marlais, S. M., Phillips, T. J., Potter, G. L., Santer, B. D., Sperber, K. R., Taylor, K. E., and Williams, D. N.: 1999, ‘An Overview of the Results of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP I)’, Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 80, 29-56.
Gutman, G., Ohring, G., and Joseph, J. H.: 1984, ‘Interaction between the Geobotanic State and Climate: A Suggested Approach and a Test with a Zonal Model’, J. Atmos. Sci. 41, 2663-2678.
Henderson-Sellers, A.: 1993. ‘Continental Vegetation as a Dynamic Component of a Global Climate Model: A Preliminary Assessment’, Clim. Change 23, 337-377.
Holdridge, L. R.: 1947, ‘Determination of World Plant Formations from Simple Climatic Data’, Science 105, 367-368.
Kleidon, A. and Heimann M.: 1998a, ‘A Method of Determining Rooting Depth from a Terrestrial Biosphere Model and Its Impacts on the Global Water-and Carbon Cycle’, Global Change Biol. 4, 275-286.
Kleidon, A. and Heimann M.: 1998b, ‘Optimised Rooting Depth and its Impacts on the Simulated Climate of an Atmospheric General Circulation Model’, Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 345-348.
Köppen, W.: 1923, Die Klimate der Erde, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin.
Leemans, R. and Cramer, W.: 1991, ‘The IIASA Climate Database for Mean Monthly Values of Temperature, Precipitation and Cloudiness on a Terrestrial Grid’, RR-91-18, Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg/Austria.
Lohmann, U., Sausen, R., Bengtsson, L., Cubasch, U., Perlwitz, J., and Roeckner, E.: 1993, ‘The Köppen Climate Classification as a Diagnostic Tool for General Circulation Models. Clim. Res. 3, 177-193.
Milly, P. C. D. and Dunne K. A.: 1994, ‘Sensitivity of the Global Water Cycle to the Water-Holding Capacity of Land’, J. Clim. 7, 506-526.
Odum, E. P.: 1969, ‘The Strategy of Ecosystem Development’, Science 164, 262-270.
Pielke, R. A., Avissar, R., Raupach, M., Dolman, A. J., Zeng, Y., and Denning, S.: 1998, ‘Interactions Between the Atmosphere and Terrestrial Ecosystems: Influence on Weather and Climate’, Global Change Biol. 4, 461-475.
Prentice, I. C., Cramer, W., Harrison, S., Leemans, R., Monserud, R. A., and Solomon, A. M.: 1992. ‘A Global Biome Model Based on Plant Physiology and Dominance, Soil Properties and Climate’, J. Biogeogr. 19, 117-134.
Roeckner, E., Arpe, K., Bengtsson, L., Christoph, M., Claussen, M., Dümenil, L., Esch, M., Giorgetta, M., Schlese, U., and Schulzweida, U.: 1996, ‘The Atmospheric General Circulation Model ECHAM-4: Model Description and Simulation of Present-Day Climate’, Report 218, Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg.
Schlesinger, W. H.: 1997, Biogeochemistry. An Analysis of Global Change, Academic Press, San Diego, p. 588.
Sellers, P. J., Mintz, Y., Sud, Y. C., and Dalcher, A.: 1986, ‘A Simple Biosphere Model (Sib) for Use within General Circulation Models’, J. Atmos. Sci. 43, 505-531.
Shukla, J. and Mintz, Y.: 1982, ‘The Influence of Land-Surface-Evapotranspiration on the Earth's Climate’, Science 247, 1322-1325.
Stendel, M. and Roeckner, E.: 1998, ‘Impacts of Horizontal Resolution on Simulated Climate Statistics in ECHAM 4’, Report 253, Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg.
Vitousek, P. M., Mooney, H. A., Lubchenco, J., and Melillo, J. M.: 1997, ‘Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems’, Science 277, 494-499.
WBGU: 1998, World in Transition: Ways Towards Sustainable Management of Freshwater Resources, German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), Springer Verlag, Berlin.
Wild, M., Ohmura, A., Gilgen, H., Roeckner, E., and Giorgetta, M.: 1996, ‘Improved Representation of Surface and Atmospheric Radiation Budgets in the ECHAM4 General Circulation Model’, Report 200, Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kleidon, A., Fraedrich, K. & Heimann, M. A Green Planet Versus a Desert World: Estimating the Maximum Effect of Vegetation on the Land Surface Climate. Climatic Change 44, 471–493 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005559518889
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005559518889