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BRASILIA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Brazilian agribusiness is losing up to $1 billion dollars a year as rising deforestation cuts rainfall in the southern Amazon - a problem set to expand if forest loss continues, a group of Brazilian and German researchers have warned.
In a study published in the journal Nature Communications in May, they found that smaller-scale forest losses can enhance rainfall on adjoining agricultural land - but once losses pass 55-60%, rainfall plunges.
Losses of tree cover in particular seem to delay the start and shorten the length of the rainy season, they found.
As Brazilian Amazon forest destruction continues, drier conditions could put a massive strain on the region’s mainly rainfed agricultural industry, the authors said.