Forest loss and Borneo’s climate

Abstract

The equatorial island of Borneo is a deforestation hotspot. However, the influence of forest loss on the island’s climate remains largely unexplored. Here, we examine how forest loss is related to changes in ground-based records of temperature (1961–2007) and precipitation (1951–2007), and MODIS data for temperature (2002–2016). Analyses were performed for the entire island, lowland areas (15% forest loss had a >15% reduction in rainfall. We conclude that loss of forest in Borneo has increased local daily temperatures and temperature extremes, and reduced daily precipitation.

Keywords

• Borneo
• deforestation
• biophysical climate processes
• regional climate change