https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deforestation-intensifies-warming-in-the-amazon-rain-forest1/

Fires raging across the Amazon in recent weeks have gripped the world’s attention and renewed concerns over deforestation in this iconic ecosystem. The widespread use of fire to deliberately clear the rain forest not only endangers its rich biodiversity but also releases carbon into the atmosphere, ultimately contributing to global warming. Now a study has found that deforestation adds to warming in the Amazon region—which could ultimately hurt the very farms for which the rain forest is being destroyed.

Forests have a natural cooling effect for myriad reasons: they cycle water from the ground to the air, where the water takes heat with it as it evaporates (a process called evapotranspiration); their canopies provide shade; and their trees create a rough terrain, which dissipates heat more efficiently than smoother, clear-cut fields. So when forests disappear, the denuded land heats up. But this effect is not limited to the deforested areas, according to the new paper, published last month in Environmental Research Letters.