Forests and Climate according to a Forest Ecology special issue of Science

In a review paper appearing in the Forest Ecology special issue of
Science, atmospheric scientist Gordon Bonan of the National Science
Foundation’s National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder,
Colo., presents the current state of understanding for how forests
impact global climate.

Get full text; support writer, producer of the words:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612171111.htm

While even the earliest European settlers in North America recognized
that the downing of forests affected local climates, the global impact
of such activities has been uncovered over more recent decades as new
methods, analytical tools, satellites and computer models have
revealed the global harm that forest devastation can cause.

As studies have explored the mechanisms behind these effects, and the effects themselves, researchers have come to recognize that calculating the
specific harm from a specific local impact is a highly complicated
problem.

“We need better understanding of the many influences of  forests on climate, both positive and negative feedbacks, and how these will change as climate changes,” said Bonan. “Then we can begin to identify and understand the potential of forests to mitigate global warming.”

Get full text; support writer, producer of the words:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612171111.htm