The relationship between forests and local temperatures
Deforestation impacts local temperatures primarily by eroding the cooling impact of forest trees' evapotranspiration and by changing the land's albedo (Baker and Spracklen 2019, Prevedello et al 2019). The deforestation-induced temperature change varies depending on the initial and post-deforestation tree cover and the forest type. While research is ongoing into the relationship between deforestation and local temperatures, this map provides an indication of how deforestation can affect local temperatures.
How to use this map
This interactive map shows the local warming induced by tropical deforestation. The warming is shown as an average value per administrative area e.g. a region, district or province.
You can explore the impact on local temperature of different levels of forest loss using the slider bar in the bottom left corner.
You can switch between the larger and smaller administrative areas using the map view options in the right-hand corner.
To change the base map, click on the globe to switch between underlying mapping options.
To change languages, select English or Portuguese using the options in the bottom left corner.
Legend
Number of data points: The number of pixels within the selected mapping unit with data available. Results are only shown for mapping units with more than 250 pixels with available data.
∆T (˚C): Local warming induced by deforestation. Temperature is shown in degrees Celsius. This value will vary depending on the percentage deforestation selected using the deforestation slider in the bottom left corner.
∆T/forest loss (˚C/%p): Change in temperature in degrees Celsius per percentage-point forest loss. This is the change in temperature caused by one percentage point change in forest cover (relative to the 2020 baseline forest cover for that mapping unit). The value in brackets is the uncertainty range of the value (+/- standard deviation).
Forest cover 2020 (%): this is the average percentage of the area of the selected mapping unit that was covered by forest in 2020.
