Impacts of Anthropogenic Land Cover Changes on Regional Rainfall

Population growth and urban/agricultural intensification is changing the Earth's land surface at an unprecedented rate. The rainfall characteristics are also showing detectable changes across the globe with disproportionate increase in heavy rainfall events. The presentation seeks to address the question: whether there is a relation between anthropogenic land use change and the rainfall changes regionally and globally? Building on general energy balance concepts, the presentation will assess the role of land use land cover change and the impact on rainfall; the role of urban – rural heterogeneity on the regional rainfall intensity; a summer time climatology of the impact of urban area on thunderstorm and rainfall characteristics over Central Indiana/ Eastern US; and a multi-decadal analysis on the potential role agricultural intensification and urbanization may have played in affecting the Indian summer monsoon pattern.