Publication Abstracts
Miller and Russell 2004
Miller, J.R., and , 2004: Modeling feedbacks between water and vegetation in the North African climate system. In Scientists Debate Gaia: The Next Century. S.H. Schneider, J.R. Miller, E. Crist, and P.J. Boston, Eds., MIT Press, pp. 296-305, doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262194983.003.0028.
This chapter discusses the importance of water for life on Earth and how life itself affects the global hydrologic cycle and, consequently, the climate of the planet. A global climate model is utilized here to examine how the presence of vegetation can affect the hydrologic cycle in a particular region. A control for the present climate is compared with a model experiment in which the Sahara Desert is replaced by vegetation in the form of trees and shrubs common to the Sahel region. A second model experiment is designed to identify the separate roles of two different effects of vegetation: the modified albedo and the presence of roots that can extract moisture from deeper soil layers. The results show that the presence of vegetation leads to increases in precipitation and soil moisture in the western Sahara. In the eastern Sahara, the changes are less clear.
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BibTeX Citation
@inbook{mi04620e,
author={Miller, J. R. and Russell, G. L.},
editor={Schneider, S. H. and Miller, J. R. and Crist, E. and Boston, P. J.},
title={Modeling feedbacks between water and vegetation in the North African climate system},
booktitle={Scientists Debate Gaia: The Next Century},
year={2004},
pages={296--305},
publisher={MIT Press},
doi={10.7551/mitpress/9780262194983.003.0028},
}
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RIS Citation
TY - CHAP ID - mi04620e AU - Miller, J. R. AU - Russell, G. L. ED - Schneider, S. H. ED - Miller, J. R. ED - Crist, E. ED - Boston, P. J. PY - 2004 TI - Modeling feedbacks between water and vegetation in the North African climate system BT - Scientists Debate Gaia: The Next Century SP - 296 EP - 305 DO - 10.7551/mitpress/9780262194983.003.0028 PB - MIT Press ER -
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