Contemporary land use and land cover change in coastal Pearl River delta and its impact on regional climate

Abstract

Land use/land cover (LULC) is one of the most convincing aspects of the global change that has occurred in the terrestrial ecosystem (Meyer and Turner II, 1994; IPCC, 2001). Many changes in LULC refl ect the impacts of human activities on global environment (e.g., Houghton et al., 1999). Change in LULC is also recognized as a main driver affecting the local, regional, and global climate (e.g., Charney et al., 1977; Chase et al., 1996; Stohlgren et al., 1998; Eastman et al., 2001; Foley et al., 2005). For instance, urbanization alters the urban-rural surface energy balance, affects the thermal stratifi cation of the urban boundary layer, the local-scale atmospheric circulation, and the aerosol environment (Changnon and Huff, 1986; Shepherd 2005). Urbanization also affects precipitation through increases in hygroscopic nuclei, turbulence transfer, convection, rain-producing clouds, and the addition of water vapor from anthropogenic sources (Souch and Grimmond, 2006), all of which can lead to an altered pattern in urban precipitation frequency and intensity (e.g., Shepherd, 2006). The impact of LULC change on regional-scale climate has also been well documented (e.g., Dickinson, 1983; Sellers et al., 1996; Pielke et al., 1997; Xue et al., 2001).