CAREER: Impacts of Amazon Deforestation on Earth's Climate, Water, and Ecosystems: The Ebb of the Green Ocean?

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

The principal goal of this CAREER project is to understand and quantify the impacts of contemporary deforestation and projected future deforestation on climate, hydrology, and terrestrial ecosystems. A multi-scale analysis will be conducted with the following objectives (i) to determine how the size, shape, and organization of deforested areas alter atmospheric dynamics; and (ii) to study how the atmosphere communicates these changes to intact areas of rainforest, other parts of South America and other parts of the world. Climate vegetation feedbacks will also be analyzed. One of the deliverables of this project is an integrated framework for understanding how Amazon deforestation affects local, regional, and global climate, hydrology, and ecosystems. This framework will be extended to analyze deforestation in tropical Asia and Africa. The research focuses on integrating research and education at the Middle School level. The primary goal is to bring improved understanding of Earth's atmosphere, land surface, and human elements of global change into the middle school classroom. A new teacher-in-service unit will be developed and organized under the aegis of QUEST, a professional development program with a 25-year track record of success and administered by Princeton University's Program in Teacher Preparation. Students will gain hands-on experience collecting and analyzing local weather station data, and will also be taught how to access Amazon-relevant data from the Internet. Students will present their work at a local science fair. This research will also support a graduate student. Thus this project has substantial broader impacts.