climate cooling

Feb

2023

Introduction to the Climate Landscapes Conference

In October, we organized the international online Climate Landscapes Conference. Here is the introduction from the organizers into the conference.

It is important to understand that carbon, water and energy cycles on land are closely linked. Restoring atmospheric and terrestrial water cycles in vegetation, soils, and the atmosphere is paramount to cooling the planet. This is the only way to stabilize precipitation patterns and prevent floods and droughts – locally, regionally and globally. For this, more vegetation, more fertile soils, and water retention in land use are essential.

In general, we need a paradigm shift that values the hydrological and climate-cooling effects of vegetation in general and forests in particular, in addition to their carbon sequestration potential. The effects of vegetation cover on climate offer benefits that need to be more widely recognized and require a systems approach to make agriculture, forestry, and water management resilient for the times ahead.

Cycles of carbon, water, and energy can be influenced by increasing soil fertility, more vegetation, and water retention. These include regenerative land management practices such as year-round vegetation cover through intercropping and undersowing, reduced tillage, large-scale establishment of agroforestry systems, creation of retention areas, climate-adaptive forest conversion, and management of pastures using holistic grazing management.

Feb

2023

Walter Jehne: Practically turning down the greenhouse to cool the Earth with 3 W/ m2 safely, profitably and in time – Climate Landscapes Conference

In October, we organized the international online Climate Landscapes Conference. Here is Walter Jehne’s presentation on »Practically turning down the greenhouse to cool the Earth with 3 W/ m2 safely, profitably and in time«.

It is important to understand that carbon, water and energy cycles on land are closely linked. Restoring atmospheric and terrestrial water cycles in vegetation, soils, and the atmosphere is paramount to cooling the planet. This is the only way to stabilize precipitation patterns and prevent floods and droughts – locally, regionally and globally. For this, more vegetation, more fertile soils, and water retention in land use are essential.

In general, we need a paradigm shift that values the hydrological and climate-cooling effects of vegetation in general and forests in particular, in addition to their carbon sequestration potential. The effects of vegetation cover on climate offer benefits that need to be more widely recognized and require a systems approach to make agriculture, forestry, and water management resilient for the times ahead.

Cycles of carbon, water, and energy can be influenced by increasing soil fertility, more vegetation, and water retention. These include regenerative land management practices such as year-round vegetation cover through intercropping and undersowing, reduced tillage, large-scale establishment of agroforestry systems, creation of retention areas, climate-adaptive forest conversion, and management of pastures using holistic grazing management.

Jan

2023

Thinking the Economy from the Soil Up – Panel mit Jan-Gisbert Schultze, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Stefan Schwarzer | DLD 23

We had the opportunity at the DLD conference in Munich a few days ago to show the importance of soil and vegetation as an economic basis for all our lives, but also as an importance for healthy food and the climate (or climate cooling) (here the link to the panel recording). The panel exchange was unfortunately only short, but the feedback – especially interesting because a very different audience than usual – was super.

Oct

2022

Trees, forests and water: Cool insights for a hot world

Forests and trees must be recognized as prime regulators within the water, energy and carbon cycles.” – David Ellison and Jan Pokorny, authors of this article, will be speaking on our Climate Landscapes Conference, https://climate-landscapes.org, starting today. Learn more about the potentials of #vegetation, #soils and #watercycles to cool the climate! Register now: https://climate-landscapes.org

Oct

2022

Climate Landscapes Conference starts in a few hours

In a few hours we start our Climate Landscapes Conference, https://climate-landscapes.org. We’ll bring together scientists and practitioners from around the world under the (sub)title “Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes“. Come and join us!

Rising temperatures and weather extremes such as droughts and floods threaten the Earth and the human population, besides biodiversity loss, land degradation and other major issues. However, it seems we have a solution for many of these issues right before us: We can work with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate and restore Earth’s landscapes.

With our “Climate Landscapes Conference“, we want to draw attention to the interrelationships and potentials of vegetation, soils, water and climate to cool the climate and rehydrate earth’s landscapes. A combination of scientific presentations, enterprise engagements and best practices will show

the interrelationships between vegetation, soils, water & climate,
the enormous potentials of ecosystemically oriented land- and appropriately designed water management for and with agriculture, forestry and settlement planning,
the associated positive effects on biodiversity, land restoration, the health of soils, nutrition and improved climate adaptation.

Our conference aims to provide a forum for people from different fields of science, practice, politics, administration, business and media. You will have the chance to learn about the interwoven natural relationships from world-renowned speakers and participants, discuss the appropriate solutions, create new networks and find ways for the next urgent steps.

For more information and registration please check out our website, https://climate-landscapes.org.

Oct

2022

Agenda »Climate Landscapes Conference« 18.-19.10.2022

Check out the updated agenda for our Climate Landscapes Conference, https://climate-landscapes.org, starting today! Really looking nice, with great presentations and room for exchange and discussion.

Oct

2022

The cycles of carbon, water and energy are closely coupled

Nature can’t be seen and analyzed linearily. It’s always more complex. That’s why we must look at how the cycles of carbon, water and energy are closely coupled. Here is a draft sketch of mine to show this.

Tomorrow, 18/10/22, the Climate Landscapes Conference, https://climate-landscapes.org, will look into this in more detail. Come and join us!

And check out my presentation “Planting water”.

Oct

2022

Climate Landscapes Conference starts tomorrow, 18.10.2022

Countdown for our Climate Landscapes Conference, https://climate-landscapes.org, with one day to go. We’ll bring together scientists and practitioners from around the world under the (sub)title “Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes“. Come and join us!

the interrelationships between vegetation, soils, water & climate,
the enormous potentials of ecosystemically oriented land- and appropriately designed water management for and with agriculture, forestry and settlement planning,
the associated positive effects on biodiversity, land restoration, the health of soils, nutrition and improved climate adaptation.

For more information and registration please check out our website.

Oct

2022

The rainforest’s water pump

It’s (almost) all about forests and water: An investigation of naturally occurring water recycling in rainforests finally marries the results of global climate models with observations. Alarmingly, it also suggests that deforestation can greatly reduce tropical rainfall.

Join us next week for much more insights in our Climate Landscapes Conference.

Oct

2022

Agenda for Climate Landscapes Conference, 18.-19.10.2022, online

We have reworked the agenda for our upcoming Climate Landscapes Conference. We have over 20 fascinating speakers lined up, all with deep knowledge in their fields, showing you how vegetation, soils, water & climate are interconnected, and how we can successfully cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes. Don’t miss these incredible insights for creating a better world!

Oct

2022

Climate Landscapes Conference, 18.-19.10.2022, online

Under the (sub)title “Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes” we are inviting you to the upcoming online Climate Landscapes Conference, 18.-19.10.2022.

the interrelationships between vegetation, soils, water & climate,
the enormous potentials of ecosystemically oriented land- and appropriately designed water management for and with agriculture, forestry and settlement planning,
the associated positive effects on biodiversity, land restoration, the health of soils, nutrition and improved climate adaptation.

For more information and registration please check out our website.

Sep

2022

Climate Landscapes Conference, 18.-19.10.2022, Online

Rising temperatures and weather extremes such as droughts and floods threaten the Earth and the human population, besides biodiversity loss, land degradation and other major issues. However, it seems we have a solution for many of these issues right before us: We can work with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate and restore Earth’s landscapes.

the interrelationships between vegetation, soils, water & climate,
the enormous potentials of ecosystemically oriented land- and appropriately designed water management for and with agriculture, forestry and settlement planning,
the associated positive effects on biodiversity, land restoration, the health of soils, nutrition and improved climate adaptation.

For more information and registration please check out our website.

Aug

2022

Like it hot? 70°C on open soil

Wow, 70°C on the tilled soil (38°C air temperature). Incredible. In comparison, the patchy clover right next to it is 33°C cooler!

I am tempted to exclaim: If you want to cool the planet, cover the soil!

More on the background of the influence of land use on climate and water cycle in my UNEP paper, presentation, conference “Climate Landscapes”.

Jul

2022

Local temperature response to land cover and management change driven by non-radiative processes

Cooling forests: Here, we combine extensive records of remote sensing and in situ observation to show that non-radiative mechanisms dominate the local response in most regions for eight of nine common LCMC perturbations. We find that forest cover gains lead to an annual cooling in all regions south of the upper conterminous United States, northern Europe, and Siberia—reinforcing the attractiveness of re-/afforestation as a local mitigation and adaptation measure in these regions. Our results affirm the importance of accounting for non-radiative mechanisms when evaluating local land-based mitigation or adaptation policies.

Jul

2022

Nonlocal effects dominate the global mean surface temperature response to the biogeophysical effects of deforestation

Nonlocal effects: Deforestation influences surface temperature at the location of deforestation (local effects) and elsewhere (nonlocal effects). […] Using simulations in a climate model, we show that deforestation-induced changes in the brightness of the surface influence surface temperature mainly nonlocally and thus may be largely overlooked in observation-based data sets. The simulations show that the nonlocal effects have a larger impact on global average surface temperature than the local effects, independent of how much area is deforested and at which latitude the deforestation takes place.

Jul

2022

Securing the climate benefits of stable forests

Stable forests: We argue that resource and finance allocation for stable forests should be incorporated into countries’ and donors’ comprehensive portfolios aimed at tackling deforestation and forest degradation as well as resulting emissions.

Key policy insights:

Climate policies, finance, and implementation have tended to focus on areas of recent forest loss and near-term threats of anthropogenic disturbance, resulting in an imbalance of effort that fails to adequately address stable forests.
In some contexts, policy measures intended to secure the climate-related benefits of stable forests have competed poorly against more urgent threats. Policymakers and finance mechanisms should view stable forests as a complementary element within a holistic, long-term approach to resource management.
International mechanisms and national frameworks should be adjusted and resourced to promote the long-term sustainability and permanence of stable forests.
Beyond additional resources, the climate benefits of stable forests may be best secured by pro-actively designing implementing policies that recognize the rights and interests of stakeholders who are affected by land management decisions.

Jun

2022

Revealing the widespread potential of forests to increase low level cloud cover

Forests and their impacts on low level clouds:

However, changing the forest cover can further affect the climate system through biophysical effects. One such effect that is seldom studied is how afforestation can alter the cloud regime, which can potentially have repercussions on the hydrological cycle, the surface radiation budget and on planetary albedo itself. Here we provide a global scale assessment of this effect derived from satellite remote sensing observations. We show that for 67% of sampled areas across the world, afforestation would increase low level cloud cover, which should have a cooling effect on the planet. We further reveal a dependency of this effect on forest type, notably in Europe where needleleaf forests generate more clouds than broadleaf forests.

Jun

2022

Presentation: Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes

My presentation on “Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes“.

As it looks, we have a pretty exciting tool in the climate as well as agriculture discussion with multiple benefits: more vegetation (especially in agriculture; through undersowing, intercropping, agroforestry, but also through a different form of animal husbandry, forest conversion, water retention) means more fertile soils, more water storage capacity and infiltration, more nutrients, more habitat for insects & co, more … and v. especially a cooling (of the layers near the ground), heat loss into space, more clouds with more precipitation and more sunlight reflection, which in turn contributes to the cooling of the climate, as well as activates the small (weakened) water cycles.

In short, we can(t) work with nature to cool the climate, strengthen the small water cycles, and in the process make agriculture, forestry, and water management more resilient and “fertile.”

This talk is based on the findings of my UNEP article (exists in French, Spanish, Chinese too).

Jun

2022

Article: Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes

My UNEP paper on “Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes“.

The continued destruction of forests, the deterioration of soils, the subsequent loss of terrestrial soil water storage and the reduction of water retention in the landscape are disrupting the movement of water in and through the atmosphere. This disruption causes major shifts in precipitation that could lead to less rainfall and more droughts in many areas of the world, increases in regional temperatures and an exacerbation of climate change. These changes affect regional climate, but can also impact regions far away. Understanding the interwoven relationships and the subsequent fluxes of energy between plants, soils and water on the ground, as well as in the atmosphere, can help mitigate climate change and create more resilient ecosystems.

Translations into French, Spanish, Chinese to be found here (#25).

Jun

2022

Climate Landscapes – Getting more people involved

I am organising an international online event “Climate Landscapes”, 18.-19.10.2022. Many well-known scientists from various fields have already agreed to be part of the conference, which is really great.

My aim however is not to organise yet another scientific conference, but one where different players/stakeholders in society will get together, get in contact and talk to each other, across disciplines and “sectors”. Thus, I want there many representatives from other-then-research to be present.

My question(s) to you is/are:

Can you recommend me people especially from non-scientific fields, which should absolutely be present? Or can you get directly in touch with these and recommend the conference? They can contact me voluntarily by my email address (stefan@climate-landscapes.org).
It would be great if we could make this conference stand on many organisations. So, I would imagine a many-supportes-network to show on the website and use all the power, knowledge, connections we have in order to spread the message and that this really has an impact on politics, companies, society. —> Would you like to join forces with your network, association, company, …?
Do you have any further ideas how to improve (exponentially!!) the impact/success of that event?

Best wishes,

Stefan

PS: “Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes”: my UNEP paper; my presentation.