Extreme events in the Amazon after deforestation

Abstract

Potential self-perpetuating dieback of the Amazon rain forest has been a topic of concern. The concern is that initial deforestation could critically impair the forest’s water recycling capacities, further harming the remaining forest through reduced annual precipitation. Many studies have focused on annual mean precipitation changes, due to its widespread perception as a central control on the Amazon rain forest’s stability. However, the impact of deforestation goes beyond changes in the annual mean precipitation. Yet, global coarse-resolution climate models are not well suited to investigate changes in short-duration and localized events due to their coarse resolution. Here, we circumvent these issues by analyzing a full-deforestation scenario simulated by a global storm-resolving model. We focus on changes in the tail of the hourly distribution of precipitation, temperature, and wind. Hourly precipitation becomes more extreme in the absence of the forest than in an intact forest, with an increased occurrence of both no rain and intense rainfall. These changes are driven by enhanced moisture convergence that strengthens vertical velocity. On average, the near-surface temperature rises significantly by about 3.84 °C, and the daily minimum temperature after deforestation becomes similar to the daily maximum temperature before deforestation. Except for wet-bulb temperature, human heat stress indicators shift to more severe levels, with implications for health and a significant reduction in work productivity. Finally, the mean 10 m wind speed intensifies by a factor of four, with the 99th percentile wind speed doubling. To summarize, our findings, while based on an idealized case, provide a stark warning of the effects of continuing deforestation of the Amazon.