Observed shifts in regional climate linked to Amazon deforestation

Deforestation is an important driver of regional climate change in the Amazon; thus, assessments of climate impacts from deforestation can provide key insights to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in the region. Using satellite-based observational data, here we investigated how accumulated deforestation in the Amazon may have contributed to shifting climate away from reference conditions in highly forested regions. We assessed differences in several essential climate variables between 0.5° deforested cells grouped by their extent of remaining forest cover and their highly forested neighboring cells. Our findings show compelling evidence that forest loss has contributed to shift climate toward higher land surface temperatures, lower evapotranspiration, lower dry season rainfall, and fewer rainy days, especially in regions with forest cover <60%. Highly deforested regions share some climatic similarities with transitional regions between the moist forest and savanna biomes, which was generally not observed in highly forested regions. Our findings underscore the importance of deforestation control and forest restoration to improve climate resilience of Amazonian ecosystems and climate-dependent economic activities. Historic deforestation in the Amazon has contributed to climate shifts towards higher land surface temperatures, lower evapotranspiration, reduced dry season rainfall, and fewer rainy days, especially in regions with less than 60% forest cover, according to analysis of satellite-based observational data.