Wind was the missing dial in how forests drink water

How efficiently a landscape turns water into growth — the carbon it absorbs for each unit of water it loses — shapes how ecosystems cope as the climate changes. A team led by Fu Zheng at the Chinese Academy of Sciences analysed monitoring sites worldwide and found a factor models had largely overlooked: wind. Stronger winds were linked to lower water-use efficiency at nearly 80% of sites — mostly because moving air carries moisture away faster, like a breeze drying laundry — and the effect rivalled temperature and rainfall in strength. The Nature Climate Change study suggests forecasts of how land absorbs carbon will sharpen once wind is given its due.

SDG 13 · Climate action