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Biotic Pump Unveiled: The Quest to Decipher Nature’s Climatic Regulation

Based on a recent Substack post by Alpha Lo – original article here.

Rong Fu, a Chinese-born meteorologist, embarked on a decades-long journey across various American universities, including the University of Arizona, Georgia Institute of Technology, and UCLA, to unravel the mysteries behind the onset of the rainy season in the Amazon rainforest. Her curiosity was piqued by the early arrival of rains in October, deviating from the expected January onset due to inter-tropical convergence zones. Fu’s research led her to discover that increased water vapor in October, potentially caused by deep convection processes and forest evapotranspiration, played a crucial role in kickstarting the rainy season earlier than climate models predicted. Her findings suggested that the Amazon forest itself, through evapotranspiration, significantly contributed to the region’s rainfall, challenging the traditional understanding of tropical forest growth and the wet season’s dynamics.

Fu’s innovative approach extended beyond the Amazon to the Congo and the Great Plains of the USA, where she applied similar methodologies to identify the drivers of rainy season onset. In the Congo, she found that evapotranspiration from the rainforest was even more critical, contributing to 80% of the air’s moisture. Meanwhile, in the Great Plains, Fu explored the role of moisture from the US Southwest in triggering the onset of rain, highlighting the impact of regional vegetation and land cover on precipitation patterns. Her work underscores the complex interplay between ecosystems and climate, advocating for the importance of preserving forests and adopting sustainable agricultural practices like agroforestry to maintain regional climates. Fu’s research continues to inform climate science, emphasizing the ecosystem’s significant influence on weather and climate patterns, and offering insights into mitigating the effects of climate change and deforestation.