Category Archives: Land Cover

Land Use: How Important for Climate?

Posted on 06/11/2008 by peggy

According to the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, land use change has a relatively minor impact on the recent rise in global average temperature. Yet, as stressed in an earlier set of blogs on Iowa … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate Change, Land Cover | Leave a comment

Puddles and Soil Temperature, Part 4: Cool soil in the summertime

Posted on 04/07/2008 by peggy

During the summer, abundant sunshine during the long days heats up the ground near the surface. I’ve seen surface temperatures on dry ground up to 50°C in the south-central Great Plains of the United States. If you’ve dug a hole … Continue reading →

Posted in Atmosphere, Backyard Science, Hydrology, Land Cover, Soil | 1 Comment

Watersheds Part 3

Posted on 01/29/2008 by peggy

On the surface, we have something similar called “watersheds.” If the water isn’t soaking into the ground, hills act like our roofs, and the water flows on the surface until it hits a stream or river. If you look at … Continue reading →

Posted in Hydrology, Land Cover, Watersheds | 2 Comments

Looking at the fall colors in a different way

Posted on 10/18/2007 by peggy

[This blog reflects the help of many friends and colleagues. The story of how it developed shows how science research often works. The idea for this blog came from Professor Peter Blanken of the University of Colorado, who took advantage … Continue reading →

Posted in Backyard Science, Climate, Earth as a System, Earth System Science, Land Cover, Seasons and Biomes | Leave a comment

Land Use and Carbon Dioxide

Posted on 09/07/2007 by peggy

Recently, I posted the Hawaii record that showed that carbon dioxide has been increasing for the last several decades. To make the plot consistent with the global temperature plot, I showed only annual averages. Now, I show a copy of … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon, Earth System Science, Land Cover | 3 Comments