Researchers et Zürich found reforestation can help increase rain

Researchers at Eth Zürich have published new studies based on observational data from all over Europe. Climate researchers have shown for the first time that the forest caused an increase in rainfall. The study claims that if the agricultural land is resumed, precipitation in Europe can increase more than seven percent.

Climate researchers have long known that forests have an impact on the regional climate. A number of studies show that they usually reduce the surface temperature in the summer, help adapt to the effects of global warming locally. It is less clear how forests and reforestation of agricultural land can affect local and regional precipitation.

Scientists on the project view precipitation data for more than 5800 different measurement stations of the network measurement. This analysis focuses on five European regions because of the availability of data measured in the region. The area in this study was included in and around Great British, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland. The pair of measurement stations was chosen in these areas, with one station in the wooded and other areas on agricultural land.

The difference between forest cover on the ground is at least 20 percent, and the station must be placed at a similar height and no more than 84 kilometers. For the second stage of this study, the team sees station data using statistical modeling to explain the amount of rainfall and isolate the effects of the station while overriding other factors that can affect precipitation.

According to the first research writer, Ronnie Meier, while there was an outlier, the data showed a clear trend. In forested areas, precipitation is much higher than in agricultural areas. Project team members also found that the difference in rainfall was clearer in winter than in the summer. The Meier hypothesis that forest surface roughness may be more important than previously thought and is a key factor for increasing precipitation.