• Continental moisture recycling (also known as precipitation recycling) is the process wheremoisture evaporated from land returns as precipitation on land (104). Approximately 40% of global terrestrial rainfall is sourced from terrestrial E (103). For the Amazon, regional recycling ratio estimates range from 17% to 41%, depending on the spatial scale andmethodology (104, 105), although in the southwest corner ofthe basin, precipitation recycling may be as high as 70% (103).
• Increasing variability in rainfall over the Amazon during the past few decades (116, 117) has been linked to increased SST, confounding a potential signal from deforestation.
• A major uncertainty is how the atmospheric circulation responds to the initial LCC-induced changes to surface flux. Latent heat release from forests over the Amazon strengthens the atmo- spheric heating gradient between land and ocean, enhancing the low-level atmospheric flow of moisture into the Amazon basin (130). Other studies suggest that deforestation-induced warming results in reduction in surface pressure causing increased moisture convergence (118).