Deforestation in the Amazon could raise local temperatures by 1.5C

logs

Andy Myatt/Alamy Stock Photo

THE speed at which trees are being cleared in the Brazilian Amazon today could have a similar local warming effect to decades of temperature rises driven by climate change. So say calculations on how deforestation will alter temperatures in the region over the next three decades.

Logging has been expanding in Brazil. And the election of populist Jair Bolsonaro as president in January has provoked fears that deforestation could get even worse if he appeases the powerful agribusiness lobby.

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Barry Sinervo at …

source: newscientist.com