C. Delire et al., Simulated response of the atmosphere-ocean system to deforestation in the Indonesian Archipelago, GEOPHYS R L, 28(10), 2001, pp. 2081-2084
The climatic effects of large-scale deforestation in the Indonesian Archipe
lago are investigated using a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean model - the Fa
st Ocean Atmosphere Model (FOAM). Extremely rapid rates of deforestation ac
ross the Archipelago motivate this study. We compare two simulations (one w
ith fixed ocean temperatures, another where the ocean responds to changing
atmospheric conditions), to investigate the potential for oceanic feedbacks
on deforestation-induced climate change. With fixed sea surface temperatur
es, evaporation decreases over land but increases over the surrounding ocea
ns where the wind speeds increase. Regional deep convection is enhanced and
precipitation increases over the islands. With an interactive ocean the in
itial decrease in evaporation over the deforested land reduces convergence
and increases the easterlies in the Bay of Bengal. More intense equatorial
upwelling cools the surface temperatures over that region and reduces ocean
evaporation. Regional convection is less intense and precipitation drops b
y 9% over deforested land.