Rapid loss of trees in the Amazon region in South America due to unsustainable agriculture, mining industry, and logging undermines the rainforest's ability to bind carbon dioxide. But it also affects regional weather patterns, according to a new study conducted by researchers in China and Thailand and published in the journal Nature.
The study, which is based on climate simulations and satellite data from 2000 to 2020, shows that deforestation generally leads to drier conditions during the period June to August, as moisture disappears into the atmosphere. This is when vegetation needs water the most.
At the same time, more rain falls during the rainy season from December to February, the researchers discovered.
Agriculture in danger
"Due to its central role in regulating regional and global climate, further efforts are required to protect the remaining forest in the Amazon, as well as restore destroyed land areas," the researchers conclude.
Especially, harvests are at risk of being affected, they emphasize. Increased rainfall during the rainy season can lead to flooding in deforested areas, causing damage to agriculture and the economy.
A generally drier regional climate, in turn, threatens wildlife, exacerbates droughts and wildfires, and affects agriculture negatively.
Risks becoming a savannah
The study, which takes into account seasonal variations and is based on unique data, is "groundbreaking", writes Wim Thiery, a lecturer at the Belgian VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), in a comment in Nature.
Research of this kind is important for understanding the complex interaction between deforestation, climate change, and the planet's well-being. It can help avoid the tipping point that can transform the ecosystem into a savannah, he believes.
In a study last year, a group of international researchers estimated that between 10 and 47 percent of the Amazon will be exposed to a combined stress of warming and deforestation by 2050. This can lead to a significant change in the ecosystem, which in turn drives global warming.
Globally, the destruction of rainforests continues, despite promises to the contrary, according to the Forest Declaration Assessment report last year.
