Deforestation Drives Changes in Climate, Food Production

Deforestation is driving changes in the climate that threaten to impact global food production, according to a new study.

"Understanding the precise mechanisms of forest-generated warming or cooling could help regional management agencies anticipate changes in crop yields. Together with a knowledge of other ecological factors, this information can help decision makers and stakeholders design policies that help to sustain local agricultural practices," co-author Safa Motesharrei said in a statement.

And with food shortages a major concern in the future as the human population grows to unsustainable levels, adding fuel to the fire in the form of deforestation is needless to say worrying to scientists.

Ironically, agriculture is widely believed to be one of the main causes of deforestation - that is, when forests are mowed down and converted to plantations for oil palm, soy, rubber, coffee, tea, rice, and many other crops. Such dramatic changes in land cover could trigger a rise or fall in local temperature by as much as a few degrees. This, in turn, could substantially impact yields of crops that are highly susceptible to specific climate conditions, resulting in harvests that are less productive and less profitable.

While local impacts of forest cover change are some of the most relevant for management practices, they're also the most poorly understood. So to better understand the effect worldwide deforestation has on local climate, researchers from the United States and China focused on the albedo and evapotranspiration effects. (Scroll to read on...)