Articles | Volume 16, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-2137-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-2137-2025
Research article
 | 
21 Nov 2025
Research article |  | 21 Nov 2025

Evaluating biogeophysical sensitivities to idealized deforestation in CMIP6 models using observational constraints

Nikolina Mileva, Julia Pongratz, Vivek K. Arora, Akihiko Ito, Sebastiaan Luyssaert, Sonali S. McDermid, Paul A. Miller, Daniele Peano, Roland Séférian, Yanwu Zhang, and Wolfgang Buermann

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Cited articles

Alibakhshi, S., Naimi, B., Hovi, A., Crowther, T. W., and Rautiainen, M.: Quantitative analysis of the links between forest structure and land surface albedo on a global scale, Remote Sensing of Environment, 246, 111854, 2020. a
Alkama, R. and Cescatti, A.: Biophysical climate impacts of recent changes in global forest cover, Science, 351, 600–604, 2016. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i
Baker, J. C. and Spracklen, D. V.: Climate benefits of intact Amazon forests and the biophysical consequences of disturbance, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00047, p. 47, 2019. a, b, c
Bala, G., Caldeira, K., Wickett, M., Phillips, T., Lobell, D., Delire, C., and Mirin, A.: Combined climate and carbon-cycle effects of large-scale deforestation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 6550–6555, 2007. a
Betts, R. A.: Offset of the potential carbon sink from boreal forestation by decreases in surface albedo, Nature, 408, 187–190, 2000. a
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Despite forests being so important for mitigating climate change, there are still uncertainties about how much the changes in forest cover contribute to the cooling/warming of the climate. Climate models and real-world observations often disagree about the magnitude and even the direction of these changes. We constrain climate models scenarios of widespread deforestation with satellite and in-situ data and show that models still have difficulties representing the movement of heat and water.
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