How can deforestation impact climate change?

Deforestation significantly impacts climate change primarily by reducing the planet's cooling effects. Trees play a crucial role in regulating the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, during photosynthesis. When forests are cut down, not only is this carbon storage capacity diminished, but the process of decomposition of the harvested trees releases stored carbon back into the atmosphere, further increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.

Additionally, forests influence local and global climate patterns through evapotranspiration. When trees release water vapor into the atmosphere, it contributes to cloud formation and precipitation, helping to cool the environment. The removal of trees disrupts this process, leading to changes in weather patterns and potentially increasing temperatures. Therefore, decreased forest cover not only lessens the cooling effects that forests provide but also exacerbates climate change by altering regional climates and increasing the overall temperature of the planet.

The other options, such as decreasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, improving biodiversity, and stabilizing climate patterns, do not accurately reflect the consequences of deforestation. In fact, deforestation typically leads to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, a reduction in biodiversity due to habitat loss, and instability in climate patterns due to the disruption of ecosystems.