Examining a hidden but increasingly deadly force in the world’s tropical forests: thunderstorms.
While heat and drought have long been blamed for rainforest tree deaths, new research reveals that short, intense storms—amplified by climate change—may be toppling trees at alarming rates.
To help us understand this overlooked driver of ecosystem change, The Environmental Review podcast talks to Cary forest ecologist Dr. Evan Gora who is the lead author of a recent paper in Ecology Letters. His team’s work shows that storms may account for up to 60% of tropical tree deaths, fundamentally reshaping how we think about forest health and carbon storage.
