Deforestation makes the tropics drier

Fewer trees means less rain – the evidence for this connection has been around for a long time. The data now shows effect size. Using satellite data and meteorological records, a team led by Dominic Spracklen of the University of Leeds has shown that for every one percent of forest area lost, about a quarter of a liter of rain falls per square metre. The working group also wrote in the journal Nature., the effect size is roughly consistent with predictions from climate models. The data also confirm previous analyzes of the relationship between forests and regional precipitation. According to the publication, cutting down the rainforest can also reduce rainfall in remote agricultural areas and thus the yields that depend on it. It also encourages further forest loss and thus endangers the existence of the rainforest itself.