Climate

Abstract

This chapter shows that human activities can alter the climate through a number of mechanisms. The provision of shelter (housing) and the protection of agricultural land by the use of shelter belts alter climates on the small scale. On a somewhat larger scale, the changes of climate due to urbanization are well documented. On a regional scale, human activities have the potential to influence the climate - especially in the cases of deforestation, desertification, and irrigation. On the global scale, it is possible that changes in atmospheric composition as a result of human activities are changing the climate, but there is as yet no unequivocal proof. -from Authors