Read here. While IPCC-biased climate researchers entirely focus efforts on incredibly lame climate models and the AGW CO2-centric hypothesis, other researchers across the globe are conducting groundbreaking research finding new, important impacts on the climate. A new peer-reviewed study on sugarcane by Loarie et al. is an example of such.
Specifically, the researchers document how a single land-use change can significantly impact local/regional temperatures, overwhelming the weak CO2-induced global warming impact.
"Here we quantify the direct climate effects of sugar-cane expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado, on the basis of maps of recent sugar-cane expansion and natural-vegetation clearance combined with remotely sensed temperature, albedo and evapotranspiration over a 1.9 million km2 area. On a regional basis for clear-sky daytime conditions, conversion of natural vegetation to a crop/pasture mosaic warms the cerrado by an average of 1.55°C, but subsequent conversion of that mosaic to sugar cane cools the region by an average of 0.93°C (1.67°F), resulting in a mean net increase of 0.6 °C. Our results indicate that expanding sugar cane into existing crop and pasture land has a direct local cooling effect that reinforces the indirect climate benefits of this land-use option." [Scott R. Loarie, David B. Lobell, Gregory P. Asner, Qiaozhen Mu & Christopher B. Field 2011: Nature Climate Change]
Additional non-CO2 climate-impact postings and other peer-reviewed postings.
