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THE NEW CLIMATE
Why a 3.2% Tree Loss Caused a 5.4% Rainfall Collapse in the Amazon
A new study shows how deforestation in just two Brazilian states is enough to disrupt rainfall across the Amazon and why that matters for everyone.
I still remember the time I tried to explain to a group of local conservation workers that rainforests can, quite literally, .
We were standing in a dry riverbed in eastern Colombia, watching smoke from a nearby fire drift into the canopy. Despite being deep in what used to be a moist forest zone, the area hadn't seen proper rainfall in weeks.
One of the elders raised his eyebrows when I said, “The trees bring the rain.” It sounded like magic. Instead, it’s physics.
The Amazon’s role in regulating rainfall isn’t just about clouds forming over trees. through every leaf, rising into the air, and helping clouds grow thick enough to pour.
And it’s not just local rain that gets affected. What happens in one corner of the Amazon can ripple outward, even changing weather hundreds of miles away.
in and led by Dr. Yu Liu from Nanjing University adds…
