Forests to attract rain

Several new studies suggest that forests attract rain and this may explain why drought is occurring more frequently in parts of the world such as western Africa. A new study by Carol Rasmussen, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory gives the first observational evidence that the southern Amazon rain forest triggers its own rainy season using water vapor from plant leaves. The finding helps explain why deforestation in this region is linked with reduced rainfall. A study by Douglas Sheil and Daniel Murdiyarso hypothesis suggests that forest cover plays a much greater role in determining rainfall than previously recognized. It explains how forested regions generate large-scale flows in atmospheric water vapor. Makarieva and Gorshkov have developed a hypothesis to explain how forests attract moist air and increase rainfall in area covered by trees.

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