So forests have a lower albedo, but simultaneously they're observed to be cooler than surrounding land. The missing piece is transpiration. Only ~3% of absorbe

So forests have a lower albedo, but simultaneously they're observed to be cooler than surrounding land. The missing piece is transpiration. Only ~3% of absorbed sunlight energy goes into photosynthesis, but ~50% of the energy goes to buffering and transpiring (purifying) water. This process is ultimtely responsible for ~80% of the rainfall on the land parts of the Earth[0], ie it's the main reason why some of our continent interiors are not deserts. So maybe let's not rush to devalue those dark, dark forests just yet, when that absorbed sunlight is precisely what's powering our water cycle and holding off desertification. :-\ The study itself even acknowledges this omission: We note that other mechanisms by which tree cover may affect atmospheric composition, such as... changes in evapotranspiration (26), could influence our study’s outcomes. [0] https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11983 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11983