GEO 215 Week 3 DQ 3
How will the deforestation of the Earth’s tropical forests affect the Earth’s temperature or climate? Explain.
Response #1
Rainforest grows to large heights and it is important because a growth in the sunlight through the forest canopy can lead to species of the forest not surviving. with the forests getting direct sunlight and over 2 inches of rain an hour, the area is hot and humid. Deforestation is where less heat is absorbed and less moisture is released. The plant life that needs this warm, wet atmosphere will die with more sunlight and less moisture. Deforestation can be related to the growth of drought, flooding and releasing oxygen. Acres of the rainforest is being deforested globally and stored carbon is being released into the atmosphere. The rainforests play a hugh role in the local climate regulation because of the rainforests interaction with the water cycles. The rainforests have an enormous effect on global weather. Rainforests vegetation affect the surface albedo or the surface of the ground absorbing more heat than bare soil. The loss of the rainforest vegetative cover will mean there will be less heat absorption moving on to less moisture being taken up into the atmosphere. The deforested regions may decline the rainfall. Deforestation can affect weather in other parts of the world. There can be a change in the rainfall. The rainforest help generate rainfall over land masses.
Response #2
Deforestation affects the climate by escalating the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide. It also affects the environment by disallowing water recycling which can set off severe flooding, aquifer depletion, soil degradation and the extinction of plant and animal species. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by what is known as photosynthesis. If humans cut down the forests, it will cause a decline in photosynthetic activity that will result in the atmosphere holding in higher levels of carbon dioxide (Hilderman, 2010). Forests also act as a major factor in the water cycle. Water is recycled through forests by the relocation of rain from the forest to land masses further inland. When the rain falls on the forests, the water is deflected by the canopy of the trees. Some of this deflected water returns to the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration. The rest of the water returns to the oceans through river runoff (Hilderman, 2010). Scientists figure that ¾ of intercepted water returns to the atmosphere as moisture laden air masses that move inland, cool and become rain, which starts the water cycle all over again. However, land cleared through deforestation only returns about ¼ of the rain water to the atmosphere (Hilderman, 2010). If the air mass has less moisture, then the rainfall is considerably less for that area which leads to drier areas inland. Deforestation also causes flooding because removal of the forest leaves less ground cover to protect open land from heavy rains. The land will not be able to hold the heavy rains and the results will be flooding and potential mudslides (Hilderman, 2010).
Hilderman, R. PhD. (2010, December). The Effects of Deforestation on the Climate and Environment. Mother Earth, 41(7), 12-16.
Retrieved from http://www.motherearthnews.com
Response #3
How will the deforestation of the Earth's tropical forests affect the Earth's temperature or climate?

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2007) tropical forests cover approximately seven percent of the Earth's surface including very dense rainforests that basically has year round rainfall, there are seasonally moist tropical forests that have an abundant amount of seasonal rainfall, and forests that are drier in open woodlands. The tropical forests are rapidly disappearing because humans are using it for farming, ranching, timber for construction and fuel, roads, and urban areas. Although these resources and uses seem reasonable at the time of deforestation, the long lasting affects cannot be ignored. Aside from social conflict and plant and animal species extinction, there is global climate change. What the tropical forests does for our climate, is that around 30 percent of the rainfall in the tropical forests is recycled into the atmosphere by evaporating from the vegetation and soil, condensing into clouds, and recycling itself by falling again onto the surface of the Earth. The rainfall also cools the surface of the Earth. If deforestation continues, I believe that the affect to the Earth's temperature and climate would be much hotter and much drier in the tropical forests. With the lack of vegetation, the rain cycle that currently is happening will start to cease. If the vegetation is necessary to recycle 30 percent of the rainfall, and this rainfall is what cools Earth's surface, this just tells me that there is going to be limited to no vegetation to promote rainfall and cooler temperatures. Although the pattern of rainfall in the tropics would be greatly affected and decreased, this would also start to affect regions outside of the tropical forests creating a world wide problem and altering the rainforest patterns. I think that deforestation should no longer be allowed. I feel that with only seven percent of the Earth's surface having tropical forests, this is already too little for the Earth, and any more loss would just be devastating. I understand acquiring resources from the forests for medicinal purposes, but anything outside of that should be completely restricted.

NASA Earth Observatory (2007). Tropical Deforestation. Retrieved from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/