Impact of Congo Basin deforestation on the African monsoon

The interactions between land cover change in Central Africa and the Africa monsoon is investigated using a regional climate model simulation (2000–2007) under a Congo Basin deforestation scenario. Decreased evaporation over the deforested area locally produces a heat low and reduced precipitation. In JJA , this low strengthens the West Africa monsoon causing increased precipitation over the Sahel and decreased precipitation over the Guinea coast. In DJF , it strengthens the south‐equatorial African monsoon causing an increase of precipitation over south‐equatorial Africa. Therefore our simulations indicate that the biosphere‐state in Central Africa may play an important role locally but also remotely via interactions with regional monsoon dynamics. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society