Welsh researchers find rainforest link

Researchers at Swansea University have discovered a link between deforestation in the rainforest and droughts across the globe, it has been reported.

According to Wales Online, scientists from the university's school of the environment and society working in the Amazon rainforest have found that deforestation and rainforest clearing can cause rainfall levels to fall.

This is due to the amount of smoke which clearing puts out into the atmosphere.

Speaking to the source, scientist Dr Suzanne Bevan said that to measure the impact of the smoke, researchers used rain gauges and satellite microwave and infrared instruments.

"Using this data, we discovered that from 1995 to the 2008 dry season, AOD was strongly correlated with the number of fires and the depleted levels of rainfall," she explained.

According to figures on Monga Bay, during the first half of the last decade, around 13 million hectares of Amazon rainforest has been cleared every year.

Written by Kimberley Homer.

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