Skip to main content
Log in

Tropical forest loss alters land surface temperature more than tropical forest gain

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

From Nature Geoscience

View current issue Submit your manuscript

A study using multiple satellite observations shows that the land-surface warming due to tropical forest loss is stronger than the cooling due to tropical forest gain. This effect should be included in Earth system models, particularly as tropical afforestation is considered to be a natural climate solution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: Sensitivity of daytime land-surface temperature (LST) to forest loss or gain.

References

  1. Bonan, G. B. Forests and climate change: forcings, feedbacks, and the climate benefits of forests. Science 320, 1444–1449 (2008). A review article that presents the biophysical and biochemical effects of forests and their changes.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Alkama, R. & Cescatti, A. Biophysical climate impacts of recent changes in global forest cover. Science 351, 600–604 (2016). This paper reports biophysical effects of forest cover change, assuming similar impacts of forest gain and loss.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Li, Y. et al. Local cooling and warming effects of forests based on satellite observations. Nat. Commun. 6, 6603 (2015). This paper exemplifies previous assessments on land–surface–temperature response to forest change using the space-for-time method.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Poorter, L. et al. Multidimensional tropical forest recovery. Science 374, 1370–1376 (2021). A review article that presents current understanding on tropical forest recovery, including the time it takes.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Zhang, Y. et al. Asymmetric impacts of forest gain and loss on tropical land surface temperature. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01423-3 (2024).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tropical forest loss alters land surface temperature more than tropical forest gain. Nat. Geosci. 17, 379–380 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01424-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01424-2

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation