A new paper in Nature says the reduction in trees can be linked to the rising numbers of people killed by high temperatures.

Tropical deforestation induces local warming and is a potential human health risk, having been linked to elevated human heat stress and reduced safe outdoor working hours. Here we show deforestation-induced local warming is associated with 28,000 (95% confidence interval: 23,610–33,560) heat-related deaths per year using a pan-tropical assessment. Analysis of satellite data shows tropical deforestation during 2001–2020 exposed 345 million people to local warming with population-weighted daytime land surface warming of 0.27 °C. Estimated heat-related mortality rates are greatest in Southeast Asia…