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Article

Effects of Cropland Expansion on Temperature Extremes in Western India from 1982 to 2015

1
School of Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
2
Department of Geography, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 72035, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Land 2021, 10(5), 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050489
Submission received: 24 March 2021 / Revised: 29 April 2021 / Accepted: 1 May 2021 / Published: 5 May 2021

Abstract

India has experienced extensive land cover and land use change (LCLUC). However, there is still limited empirical research regarding the impact of LCLUC on climate extremes in India. Here, we applied statistical methods to assess how cropland expansion has influenced temperature extremes in India from 1982 to 2015 using a new land cover and land use dataset and ECMWF Reanalysis V5 (ERA5) climate data. Our results show that during the last 34 years, croplands in western India increased by ~33.7 percentage points. This cropland expansion shows a significantly negative impact on the maxima of daily maximum temperature (TXx), while its impacts on the maxima of daily minimum temperature and the minima of daily maximum and minimum temperature are limited. It is estimated that if cropland expansion had not taken place in western India over the 1982 to 2015 period, TXx would likely have increased by 0.74 (±0.64) °C. The negative impact of croplands on reducing the TXx extreme is likely due to evaporative cooling from intensified evapotranspiration associated with croplands, resulting in increased latent heat flux and decreased sensible heat flux. This study underscores the important influences of cropland expansion on temperature extremes and can be applicable to other geographic regions experiencing LCLUC.
Keywords: cropland expansion; climate extremes; western Indian; land cover and land use change; GLASS-GLC; maxima of daily maximum temperature cropland expansion; climate extremes; western Indian; land cover and land use change; GLASS-GLC; maxima of daily maximum temperature

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MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, J.; Shen, W.; He, Y. Effects of Cropland Expansion on Temperature Extremes in Western India from 1982 to 2015. Land 2021, 10, 489. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050489

AMA Style

Liu J, Shen W, He Y. Effects of Cropland Expansion on Temperature Extremes in Western India from 1982 to 2015. Land. 2021; 10(5):489. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050489

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Jinxiu, Weihao Shen, and Yaqian He. 2021. "Effects of Cropland Expansion on Temperature Extremes in Western India from 1982 to 2015" Land 10, no. 5: 489. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050489

APA Style

Liu, J., Shen, W., & He, Y. (2021). Effects of Cropland Expansion on Temperature Extremes in Western India from 1982 to 2015. Land, 10(5), 489. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050489

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