A study using multiple satellite observations shows that the land-surface warming due to tropical forest loss is stronger than the cooling due to tropical forest gain. This effect should be included in Earth system models, particularly as tropical afforestation is considered to be a natural climate solution.
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References
Bonan, G. B. Forests and climate change: forcings, feedbacks, and the climate benefits of forests. Science 320, 1444–1449 (2008). A review article that presents the biophysical and biochemical effects of forests and their changes.
Alkama, R. & Cescatti, A. Biophysical climate impacts of recent changes in global forest cover. Science 351, 600–604 (2016). This paper reports biophysical effects of forest cover change, assuming similar impacts of forest gain and loss.
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This is a summary of: Zhang, Y. et al. Asymmetric impacts of forest gain and loss on tropical land surface temperature. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01423-3 (2024).
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Tropical forest loss alters land surface temperature more than tropical forest gain. Nat. Geosci. 17, 379–380 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01424-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01424-2