The capacity of forests to protect regional climate under global warming

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The project plans to develop a new understanding of the capacity of forests to increase moisture recycling, which enhances cloud and precipitation processes and exerts a cooling influence on the land surface. Deforestation and climate change are major global challenges. The role of forests in the carbon cycle is well recognised. Less attention is given to their role in the energy and water cycles, and their capacity to regulate regional climate. The project plans to apply an innovative land use-climate scenario modelling to quantify the impacts of deforestation and afforestation on the climate of northern Australia and south-east Asia under global warming. It also plans to evaluate the capacity of restoring forests to offset regional climate change, to inform regional land use planning and climate mitigation and adaptation.