Forests are a source of evapo-transpiration (ET), or recycled precipitation, which adds to rainfall. This contributes to around 25% of total monsoon precipitation in the later stages of the monsoon. For instance, land use land cover in Northeast India changed from woody savanna to evergreen broadleaf because of increased tea plantations. “Climate models are mostly forced with increasing greenhouse gas emissions, largely ignoring the future possible changes in land use land cover. For Indian monsoon, impacts of change in land use land cover is critical and needs to be considered for regional projections, planning, water management, he said.

Source: Hindustan Times August 24, 2016 10:17 UTC