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Deforestation reduces rainfall in tropics, says study
Posted by SciDev.Net: Paula Leighton on September 6th, 2012
SciDev.Net: Large-scale deforestation in tropical rainforests can dramatically reduce rainfall rates both locally and thousands of kilometres away, according to a study published in Nature yesterday (5 September). This could have a potentially devastating impact on communities living in or close to the Amazon and Congo rainforests.
This drop occurs because deforestation reduces the natural recycling of moisture from soils, through vegetation, and into the atmosphere, from where it returns as rainfall.
When...