Figure 2.

Change in precipitation as a result of a scenario of deforestation. In a coupled land surface and climate model simulation in which 50% of the Amazon Basin is deforested (red areas), all areas contained within the white-toothed lines experience a greater than 10% reduction in rainfall. Protected areas are shown in dark green. Areas simulated to be deforested are derived from one scenario of several presented by Soares-Filho et al. [25]. The simulated precipitation change values are from Coe et al. [26] and Costa and Pires [19]. The uncertainty of these results is large and individual global climate models give differing results but the outcome is generally similar; large-scale deforestation decreases rainfall over broad portions of the Amazon, regardless of a particular region's protected status.