Discover how tropical forests shape local climates, cooling the surrounding areas and increasing rainfall – both critical for mitigating climate change.
As wildfires break out across the UK and temperatures continue to break records, it’s becoming more and more difficult for climate deniers to dismiss the effect that climate change is having on the world’s weather systems and, by extension, its ecology and people. As temperatures rise and the weather becomes more extreme, many countries are facing challenges their infrastructure simply isn’t built for, with buildings becoming hotter and floods increasing in size and frequency.
In this new climate, the world’s forests are gaining in value, with more research being done to assess their effect on local and global climates. One of those pieces of research has been recently published by Leeds University, which found that tropical forests not only reduce temperatures in the forest region but increase rainfall, mitigating against the impacts of climate change, as well as boosting the economy and biodiversity.
The World Land Trust connection
The research by Leeds University was carried out with involvement from World Land Trust (WLT), with the final paper co-authored by two members of WLT staff and staff from three WLT partners. As part of the study, discussions were held with 44 environmental NGOs working across 24 tropical and subtropical countries, with all the NGOs interviewed being WLT partners, showcasing the vital role organisations such as WLT have in climate and biodiversity research.
“The local-scale climate impacts of tropical forests, such as reducing temperatures and increasing rainfall, are directly relevant to climate change adaptation and mitigation,” states the research paper. “Strengthening understanding of these local climate benefits can encourage actions to conserve natural forests, with positive implications for climate resilience, economic development, public health and biodiversity.”
The value of forestry
The study follows another piece of research by Leeds University that showed that tropical forests generate rainfall worth US$20 billion (£16bn) each year to regional agriculture. Putting a financial figure on the value of tropical forests provides policy makers with robust evidence that preserving that forestry offers better economic benefits for local areas, as well as reducing the temperature.
But rather than affecting just local communities, this rainfall impacts entire countries, with Brazil’s economy particularly exposed since 85% of the country’s agriculture is rain?fed. A reduction in rainfall and delayed wet seasons have already affected soy and maize yields in regions with high levels of deforestation. In addition, the loss of tropical forest has a knock-on effect for the rest of the world, as it stores vast amounts of carbon. Destroying this store releases millions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, affecting weather systems and pushing up temperatures across the globe.
“Tropical forests make it rain, supplying water that is essential for agriculture,” said the report’s co-author, Dr Callum Smith of Leeds University’s School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability. “Recognising that crucial connection could ease tensions between agricultural and conservation interests whilst building broader support for protecting forests overall.”
To read the study co-authored by WLT, go to bit.ly/WLT-Climate-Study
