Land-clearing blamed for warming in the 1800s

The six great early American climate myths - Capital Weather Gang

The Changing Climate Myth

Today, of course, hardly a day goes by when we don't hear something about the degree to which human activity is responsible for the global warming that we've experienced since the start of the industrial revolution. Therefore, it may seem surprising that in 19th century America, many people also believed, but for different reasons, that the climate was warming.

In the mid-to-late 1800s, although Ludlum documented many severely cold winters, it was clear that the "Little Ice Age," which had locked much of (at least) the northern hemisphere in its icy grip for hundreds of years, was waning. At the time, however, it was probably not widely recognized that, rather than just a milder interlude, as was thought, there was a waning cold epoch and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide caused primarily by the start of the industrial revolution, and reduced carbon dioxide absorption caused by the deforestation needed to build homes and factories.

Instead, the prevailing theory at the time was that so much land had been cleared that solar radiation had a much greater opportunity to warm the soil, and thus the air above the soil.

Was this a credible idea? What do you think?