3. How are deforestation and water scarcity related?

Forest deforestation, drought and water scarcity are closely related to each other, with serious environmental and social consequences. The water cycle is a natural process that is affected by the progressive reduction in the size of forests due to deforestation and forest fires, both natural and caused by humans.

In a forest there are hundreds of millions of trees and other plants that absorb water and then return it to the atmosphere in huge amounts of water vapor, a mega transpiration that forms clouds, from which the vital liquid returns through rain. These, in part, fall on the rainforest itself, with which its forests maintain a constant humidity, and in part they fall in the surroundings and in some cases even in distant places.

The more trees that will be deforested in a forest, the more inefficient the water cycle will become. As a consequence there will be less amount of water vapor, less clouds will form, there will be less precipitation and drought and water scarcity will increase.

We recommend these related reading:

Heat waves, fires, and climate change

Forests and water, two inseparable and essential factors

How Borneo already had its own Climate Change made by human hands

The Homo predator in Borneo

What would happen if the Amazon rainforest ends up like the Borneo rainforest?

Magazine All about Amazon rainforest