Global forestation and deforestation affect remote climate via adjusted atmosphere and ocean circulation

Raphael Portmann (), Urs Beyerle, Edouard Davin, Erich M. Fischer, Steven Hertog and Sebastian Schemm
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Raphael Portmann: ETH Zurich
Urs Beyerle: ETH Zurich
Edouard Davin: ETH Zurich
Erich M. Fischer: ETH Zurich
Steven Hertog: Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Sebastian Schemm: ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Forests can store large amounts of carbon and provide essential ecosystem services. Massive tree planting is thus sometimes portrayed as a panacea to mitigate climate change and related impacts. Recent controversies about the potential benefits and drawbacks of forestation have centered on the carbon storage potential of forests and the local or global thermodynamic impacts. Here we discuss how global-scale forestation and deforestation change the Earth’s energy balance, thereby affect the global atmospheric circulation and even have profound effects on the ocean circulation. We perform multicentury coupled climate model simulations in which preindustrial vegetation cover is either completely forested or deforested and carbon dioxide mixing ratio is kept constant. We show that global-scale forestation leads to a weakening and poleward shift of the Northern mid-latitude circulation, slows-down the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, and affects the strength of the Hadley cell, whereas deforestation leads to reversed changes. Consequently, both land surface changes substantially affect regional precipitation, temperature, clouds, and surface wind patterns across the globe. The design process of large-scale forestation projects thus needs to take into account global circulation adjustments and their influence on remote climate.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33279-9

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