Disruption of the Water Cycle

 

"One of the things that people don’t realize is that that natural beauty, those recreational forests, they have an economic development impact for the state as well."

                                ~ Ed Rendell

Disruption of the Water Cycle

Rain forests store vast quantities of water, and when those trees are cut down, the water they store is lost. As trees and plants are responsible for extracting groundwater from the soil and returning it the atmosphere, deforestation results in the water not being able to be released back into the atmosphere, affecting the balance of the water cycle. This results in lush rainforests turning into barren deserts (Desertification), leading to dry climates, which affects livings conditions.

 The resulting dry climate would result in increased probability of fire on peat land because of higher temperature and lower rainfall during the dry season. This is worsened by the fact that peatland fires are extremely difficult to extinguish as they burn underneath the surface, resulting in haze and contributing to air pollution.

What is Deforestation?

Deforestation by definition refers to the activity of clearing the forest cover or trees on a larger extent without replacements. The result of this exercise often leads to the destruction of the quality of land, weather and even climate. The primary culprits in the deforestation exercise are loggers who are acting on legal and illegal instructions. Research studies indicate that the world has had approximately half of the tropical forests cleared through loggings where no new trees have been planted.

                         

That can be translated into 18 million acres of land and it represents such a great loss to the environment. However, tree harvesting is not a criminal act, but the policy of environmental sustenance necessitates that when trees are cut down, they ought to be replaced with the new planted ones. There are several consequences of deforestation. Here is a detailed discussion of how deforestation affects climate change, animals and humans.

According to National Geographic,

“Deforestation is clearing Earth’s forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year. The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.”

                                                   

How Deforestation Affects Climate Change

It Reduces Soil Moisture and Leads to Desertification

In normal circumstances, the soil contains moisture. The moisture needs to be conserved and this can only be done successfully if there is forest cover. The crucial role that the trees play is that they cover the soil and prevent the soil from losing the water vapor. When the soil is heated, vapor is lost but when the tree canopies are present; no excess vapor is lost.

                          

But with the continued acts of deforestation, water vapor is lost and the water cycle is broken. In return, no rainfall will take place because of the absence of trees. The whole process may end up in the emergence of a desert. Some of the worst desert conversion rates in sub-Saharan Africa have been associated with deforestation in west and central African forests.

Disruption of the Water Cycle

Trees play a critical role in facilitating the continuity of the water cycle which aids to maintain a balance between the water in the atmosphere and the water on land. But when deforestation takes place, the water balance goes away, resulting in changes in water cycle.

                        

The direct outcome is alteration of habitats that depend on particular precipitation pattern, river flow or water availability from adjacent water sources. Species losses may occur whenever the water cycle is disrupted.

                                                                                         :- Shubham Swami