Deforestation

Peer-reviewed report says that clearing tropical rainforests distorts Earth’s wind and water systems and has impacts far beyond the implications for carbon dioxide. Farmers and food supply potentially at risk as global warming and skewed rainfall could wreak havoc with crops—from coffee to corn—in world’s breadbaskets

“A new study presents powerful evidence that clearing trees not only spews carbon into the atmosphere, but also triggers major shifts in rainfall and increased temperatures worldwide that are just as potent as those caused by current carbon pollution. Further, the study finds that future agricultural productivity across the globe is at risk from deforestation-induced warming and altered rainfall patterns.

“The report, “Effects of Tropical Deforestation on Climate Change and Agriculture,” published today in Nature Climate Change and released in collaboration with Climate Focus provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the climate impacts of tropical forest destruction on agriculture in the…