ABC By: Charlotte Hamlyn, 11/21/2013
A team of water experts has identified a direct link between widespread land clearing and a decline in rainfall in Western Australia's South West region. Researchers from the Centre for Water Research at the University of Western Australia say there is conclusive evidence that extensive logging, which saw 50 per cent of the South West's native forests cleared in the 1960s to 1980s, caused a 16 per cent reduction in rainfall. Honorary Research Fellow Mark Andrich says the findings have prompted calls for urgent reforestation. "Around half of the rainfall decline, at least up until the year 2000, is a result of land clearing," he said. "By implication it means that if we plant more trees or have more reforestations then there's a likelihood that rainfall could return." He says re-planting native trees would mitigate climate change but it will take some time before it has any impact on rainfall.
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