"Massive deforestation brings with it many ugly consequences-air and water pollution, soil erosion, malaria epidemics, the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the eviction and decimation of indigenous Indian tribes, and the loss of biodiversity through extinction of plants and animals. Fewer rainforests mean less rain, less oxygen for us to breathe, and an increased threat from global warming."
"Australian scientists have found that deforestation along the Amazon River in South America was reducing rainfall and causing climate change in the region.
A study in the Amazon found that a loss of forests meant less water evaporated back into the atmosphere, resulting in less rainfall, said Ann Henderson-Sellers, director of environment at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
Key to the study was plotting the cycle of a heavy molecular version of water common in the Amazon that evaporates more readily through plants than from lakes and rivers.
Water from household taps consists of two "regular" hydrogen atoms and one "regular" oxygen atom, explained Henderson-Sellers, but some water molecules see the second hydrogen atom replaced by a heavier version called deuterium.
"Plants transpire the water molecules and pumps them back into the air, without discriminating between heavy or regular molecules," Henderson-Sellers told Reuters.
As the study tracked the water cycle as it flowed from the Amazon River into the Atlantic Ocean, evaporated, fell as rain and returned back to the sea, scientists discovered there had been a reduction in heavy-molecule water since the 1970s.
Henderson-Sellers said the only possible explanation for the decline was that heavy-molecule water was no longer being returned to the atmosphere to fall as rain due to less vegetation, signalling a relationship between deforestation and rainfall.
"The bottom line is for the first time we can tell the difference between moisture that has been transpired through the plants, and water that has come through the rest of the water cycle," she said.
"Trees play a critical role in moving heavy-water molecules through the cycle. This is the first demonstration that deforestation has an observable affect on rainfall."
2007-01-01 05:39:40
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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I lived in the rain forest or the Ecuador jungle for 12 years. The jungle is winning and the only endangered thing there is man. They put up a bob wire fence to keep the animals off the road. The fence post sprouted and started taking back the road.
2007-01-01 09:45:37
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answer #2
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answered by JOHNNIE B 7
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i think of you ought to merely be who you're. there is no longer something incorrect with you. in step with threat instead of fixing your self you ought to replace acquaintances if it difficulty you plenty that they make relaxing of you. what's performing white? i've got continually been indignant whilst human beings might stated that to me (i'm black). i do no longer hold close out with those human beings anymore because of the fact the way think of you ought to act is often some stereotype of yet another race. they are not listening to you once you tell them the type you experience so which you have completed all you're able to do. there are lots of people who might settle for you as you're.
2016-11-25 20:19:03
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answer #3
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answered by ? 4
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