Weston Roundtable — Abigail Swann

Large-scale afforestation in the northern mid-latitudes warms the Northern Hemisphere and alters global circulation patterns in climate model experiments. We find that the response of climate to afforestation in mid-latitudes is determined by the amount of soil moisture available to plants with the greatest warming found in water-limited regions. The ability of vegetation to affect remote circulation has implications for strategies for climate mitigation.