Britannica Sources used in this answer

How does evapotranspiration from plants influence temperature and rainfall?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Grinnell Glacier shrinkage — Global warming A series of photographs of the Grinnell Glacier taken from the summit of Mount Gould in Glacier National Park, Montana, in (from left) 1938, 1981, 1998, and 2006. In 1938 the Grinnell Glacier filled the entire area at the bottom of the image. By 2006 it had largely disappeared from this view.

Evapotranspiration—the combined process of evaporation from soil and transpiration from plant leaves—plays a critical role in regulating Earth's climate by influencing both temperature and rainfall patterns.12

Influence on Temperature

Plants act as a natural cooling mechanism for the atmosphere. Through transpiration, plants release water vapor into the air, a process that consumes latent heat energy. Because this energy is used to convert liquid water into vapor rather than heating the surrounding air, the process minimizes sensible heating near the ground. In regions with abundant vegetation, this effect significantly lowers daily maximum surface temperatures; conversely, in areas where moisture is unavailable for transpiration, such as deserts, surface temperatures can reach extreme highs.34

Influence on Rainfall

Evapotranspiration also influences regional precipitation by affecting atmospheric moisture and circulation. The heterogeneity of vegetation cover, including forest patches, can create spatial differences in surface roughness and heat fluxes, which contribute to the development of mesoscale atmospheric circulation. These processes can increase atmospheric convection, potentially leading to earlier thunderstorm development and increased rainfall in specific regions.5