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Charney (1974) was the first to analyse the relationship between albedo and climatic processes. He reasoned that a decrease in plant cover is usually accompanied by an increase in albedo. ... Furthermore, Charney et al (1975) concluded that very local changes in albedo may be sufficient to produce drought, and that overgrazing in the Sahel could have caused the local rainfall to decrease by as much as 40 percent.
Further research showed that the mechanism by which an increase in surface albedo caused cooling of the near-ground air and a decrease in rainfall was somewhat more complicated than the original Charney model for a desert with no evaporation. While the increase of surface albedo reduced the absorption of solar radiation by the ground, it also reduced the transfer of sensible heat plus latent heat from the ground to the atmosphere. This caused a decrease in cloud amount and precipitation, which decreased the planetary albedo.
Approximate Word count = 735
Approximate Pages = 2.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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