This study first tested and verified the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the near-surface temperature in the North China Plain. Then the static land cover data in the WRF were replaced, and thereafter the modified WRF model was used to explore the impacts of land cover change on the near-surface temperature in the North China Plain in year 1992 and year 2005. The results indicated that the land cover change in the North China Plain, which was characterized by the regional urbanization, had led to significant changes in the near-surface temperature, increasing the regional near-surface temperature by 0.03°C/year on average. The spatial pattern of the climate change basically corresponded to that of the land cover change; for example, the temperature increased most significantly in the regions mainly consisting of cities and built-up area. Besides, there were some variations in the degree and range of influence of the land cover change on the temperature among seasons. The result can provide important theoretical support for the adaptation to climate change, scientific land cover change management, and land use planning. 1. Introduction More and more attention has been paid to the influence of human activities on the climate system in recent years as great progress has been made in the researches on the global climate system and environmental change. IPCC AR4 pointed out that the human activities may account for 90% of the reasons for the global warming. There is very complex influence of human activities on the climate, with the land use/cover change (LUCC) being considered as the major influencing factor in the climate system [1]. The LUCC influences the climate system at various temporal and spatial scales, and the land use change has contributed to 1/3 of the increase in global CO2 emission since the 1750s. Besides, a lot of observations and simulation experiments also indicate that the LUCC at various spatial scales has been one of the most important approaches through which the human activities exert influence on the climate [2–4]. The LUCC mainly influences the climate at the local, regional, and global scales by changing the land surface characteristics, altering the exchange of energy, water, and other materials between the land surface and the atmosphere and influencing other biogeochemical processes. There is great variation in the biogeochemical mechanism through which the LUCC influences the climate in different regions; the climate change caused by LUCC is mainly through the land-atmosphere interaction
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