We all know planting trees is good for the environment, but does it matter where we plant them? Yes, according to UW’s Ecoclimate Lab, which explores how vegetation in one part of the world can affect the climate in other, far-off places. “If we added a bunch of forests across North America and Asia, that can actually cause the circulation in the atmosphere to shift, which can make it rain in the tropics,” said lab leader Abigail Swann, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and the Department of Atmospheric Sciences.