ALT which complete deforestation is expected (225 y) produces extinction rate estimates ranging from 229 (mosquitoes) to 1,947 (ants) extinctions per million species-years (E/MSY) (17, 18). These values are two or more orders of magnitude higher than extinction rates associated with four of the five previous mass extinction events (Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, and Triassic), comparable to the rate associated with the Cretaceous event (17), and ∼2,000–20,000 higher than the background rate of ∼0.1 E/MSY (19). These results indicate that tropical forest loss/degradation alone, even without considering other human stressors such as climate change and habitat loss in other ecosystems, will precipitate a mass extinction event over the next couple of centuries.

ALT To determine how close the relationship between Earth’s surface air temperature and cloud area is, we can look at the monthly comparison of temperature versus CAF. Figure 2 below shows that relationship, and it shows it being remarkably linear. This strongly suggests that there is a direct feedback between global mean surface temperature and cloud cover. This is the cloud-temperature feedback. It suggests that as we continue to warm, cloud cover will continue to diminish, pushing up the absorbed solar radiation and continuing to accelerate warming. It doesn’t support the theory that the recent acceleration is temporary and will exist over a limited time period of aerosol adjustment, this feedback is here to stay.

ALT Ipcc projections