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Revealing the widespread potential of forests to increase low level cloud cover

Author

Listed:
  • Gregory Duveiller

    (European Commission Joint Research Centre
    Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry)

  • Federico Filipponi

    (European Commission Joint Research Centre
    Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA))

  • Andrej Ceglar

    (European Commission Joint Research Centre)

  • Jędrzej Bojanowski

    (Institute of Geodesy and Cartography)

  • Ramdane Alkama

    (European Commission Joint Research Centre)

  • Alessandro Cescatti

    (European Commission Joint Research Centre)

Abstract

Forests play a key role in humanity’s current challenge to mitigate climate change thanks to their capacity to sequester carbon. Preserving and expanding forest cover is considered essential to enhance this carbon sink. However, changing the forest cover can further affect the climate system through biophysical effects. One such effect that is seldom studied is how afforestation can alter the cloud regime, which can potentially have repercussions on the hydrological cycle, the surface radiation budget and on planetary albedo itself. Here we provide a global scale assessment of this effect derived from satellite remote sensing observations. We show that for 67% of sampled areas across the world, afforestation would increase low level cloud cover, which should have a cooling effect on the planet. We further reveal a dependency of this effect on forest type, notably in Europe where needleleaf forests generate more clouds than broadleaf forests.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregory Duveiller & Federico Filipponi & Andrej Ceglar & Jędrzej Bojanowski & Ramdane Alkama & Alessandro Cescatti, 2021. "Revealing the widespread potential of forests to increase low level cloud cover," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-24551-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24551-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Pietro Sciusco & Jiquan Chen & Vincenzo Giannico & Michael Abraha & Cheyenne Lei & Gabriela Shirkey & Jing Yuan & G. Philip Robertson, 2022. "Albedo-Induced Global Warming Impact at Multiple Temporal Scales within an Upper Midwest USA Watershed," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-19, February.
    2. H. Damon Matthews & Kirsten Zickfeld & Alexander Koch & Amy Luers, 2023. "Accounting for the climate benefit of temporary carbon storage in nature," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Debojyoti Chakraborty & Albert Ciceu & Dalibor Ballian & Marta Benito Garzón & Andreas Bolte & Gregor Bozic & Rafael Buchacher & Jaroslav Čepl & Eva Cremer & Alexis Ducousso & Julian Gaviria & Jan Pet, 2024. "Assisted tree migration can preserve the European forest carbon sink under climate change," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 14(8), pages 845-852, August.
    4. Yitao Li & Zhao-Liang Li & Hua Wu & Chenghu Zhou & Xiangyang Liu & Pei Leng & Peng Yang & Wenbin Wu & Ronglin Tang & Guo-Fei Shang & Lingling Ma, 2023. "Biophysical impacts of earth greening can substantially mitigate regional land surface temperature warming," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Jun Ge & Qi Liu & Beilei Zan & Zhiqiang Lin & Sha Lu & Bo Qiu & Weidong Guo, 2022. "Deforestation intensifies daily temperature variability in the northern extratropics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Raphael Portmann & Urs Beyerle & Edouard Davin & Erich M. Fischer & Steven Hertog & Sebastian Schemm, 2022. "Global forestation and deforestation affect remote climate via adjusted atmosphere and ocean circulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Timothy M. Lenton & Jesse F. Abrams & Annett Bartsch & Sebastian Bathiany & Chris A. Boulton & Joshua E. Buxton & Alessandra Conversi & Andrew M. Cunliffe & Sophie Hebden & Thomas Lavergne & Benjamin , 2024. "Remotely sensing potential climate change tipping points across scales," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Hao Luo & Johannes Quaas & Yong Han, 2024. "Decreased cloud cover partially offsets the cooling effects of surface albedo change due to deforestation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

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