Excessive felling of trees in the Amazon rainforest can worsen both floods and drought. Researchers have proved that the role he plays changes with the seasons. The loss of the stand affected the change of weather patterns in the region, sharpening extreme weather phenomena.
Amazonian rainforest is one of the most important ecosystems in the world, which is a house for millions of organisms and a huge carbon dioxide warehouse. He has been threatened by many factors for decades, including mass felling of forest areas for agriculture. At the same time, the Amazon area is haunting more and more frequent natural disasters – from drought and fires to destructive floods. In the scientific magazine “Nature” appeared an analysis of the relationship between the loss of stands and extreme weather phenomena.
More rainfall in the rainy season
Researchers from China and Taiwan conducted an analysis of satellite data from 2000-2020, comparing them with local weather conditions. Studies have shown that in the exiled areas there were changes in weather patterns in relation to forested areas, but they were varied.
The impact of forest loss on the weather was dependent on the season – in the rainy season, from December to February, more rain was rained in the excessed areas than in forested. In the dry season, i.e. from June to August, the empty area recorded less rainfall.
Scientists explained that the increase in rainfall in the rainfall resulted from the fact that bare land heated faster than the forested area. The air rose up, attracting moisture. In the dry time, the lack of plant cover meant that there was no evaporation of water from the leaves, which reduced the amount of water in the atmosphere.
We have lost a huge area
“Increased rainfall may exacerbate the floods in the rainfall in the exerted regions, harming regional agriculture and social economy,” said researchers. At the same time, they added that further deforestation in the Amazon can lead to a decrease in total rainfall, which will affect the biological diversity and threaten the food safety of many countries.
According to the South American RaisG organization, 54.2 million hectares of rainforest were destroyed in 2001-2020. This accounts for about 8.7 percent of the entire ecosystem.
Source of the main photo: Shutterstock