14 DAY TRIAL // A group of scientists at the Princeton University have determined in a new study that cutting down the Amazon rainforest could lead to significantly reduced snow and rainfall throughout the western portions of the United States. In turn, this would lead to significant food and water issues.
The team focused its study on a scenario where the entire Amazon is stripped bare of its lush forests. In a paper published in a recent issue of the esteemed Journal of Climate, Princeton experts show that such a loss would reduce rains throughout the Pacific Northwest by as much as 20 percent.
Additionally, the snows covering the Sierra Nevada range would decrease by 50 percent, leading to massive water problems for people who live downstream (especially in California), and who take their drinking water from aquifers and rivers that are fueled by these snows.
For this study, the team used a high-resolution climate model that revealed how the dry air produced over a bare Amazon would be sent spiraling over the western parts of the US, particularly between December and February, EurekAlert reports.