According to new research, the world’s forests play an even more important and complex role than previously thought. Besides being powerful carbon sinks, they would have the ability to keep the near and far air at a cool and humid temperature. How? ‘Or what? Thanks to the way they transform energy and water. explanation.
This effect has been observed in tropical rainforests in Latin America, Central Africa and Southeast Asia, and in particular those in Brazil, Guatemala, Chad, Cameroon and Indonesia. In these countries, forests cool the temperature by 1°C.
But how do these forests actually make it possible to stabilize the climate? By emitting biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), which promote cloud formation and cool the environment.
An interest that is “not taken into account enough”
“Forests are essential for mitigation, but also for adaptation”, points out the study, conducted by American and Colombian researchers. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, therefore, recalls the importance of forests for climate regulation, be it air, protection against drought, extreme heat or flooding.
“The importance of forests, both for global mitigation of climate change and for local adaptation of human and non-human species, is not sufficiently taken into account by current carbon-focused measures, especially in the context of future global warming “, concludes the study.
(ETX Daily Up)