The biogeophysical climatic impacts of anthropogenic land use change during  the Holocene

Smith, M. Clare; Singarayer, Joy S.; Valdes, Paul J.; Kaplan, Jed O.; Branch, Nicholas P.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-923-2016

Articles | Volume 12, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-923-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-923-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 4

Research article

|

15 Apr 2016

Research article |

| 15 Apr 2016

The biogeophysical climatic impacts of anthropogenic land use change during the Holocene

M. Clare Smith, Joy S. Singarayer, Paul J. Valdes, Jed O. Kaplan, and Nicholas P. Branch

Data sets

Earth Systems Modelling within Bridge – A Database of Model Simulations Bristol Research Initiative for the Dynamic Global Environment (BRIDGE) http://www.bridge.bris.ac.uk/resources/simulations

Short summary

We used climate modelling to estimate the biogeophysical impacts of agriculture on the climate over the last 8000 years of the Holocene. Our results show statistically significant surface temperature changes (mainly cooling) from as early as 7000 BP in the JJA season and throughout the entire annual cycle by 2–3000 BP. The changes were greatest in the areas of land use change but were also seen in other areas. Precipitation was also affected, particularly in Europe, India, and the ITCZ region.