Bio 20 HELP PLEASE!! Predict how large-scale deforestation around the world might affect the hydrologic cycle?

Question

Bio 20 HELP PLEASE!! Predict how large-scale deforestation around the world might affect the hydrologic cycle?

Answer 1

The hydrologic cycle is the water cycle, and large-scare deforestation is cutting down massive amounts of trees, so think about what roles trees play in the water cycle.  Trees are large plants that use a lot of water.  They absorb water from the ground, they use it, and then they release it.  If you lose a lot of trees, the water won't be able to make it from the ground back to the clouds and atmosphere--there would be much less precipitation.  Massive amounts of water would just be trapped in the ground, and once the ground was fully saturated, water would just sit on top of it.  There could be flooding, but even worse, there would be runoff--nutrients in the soil would be lost and sea levels would rise.  Deforestation also usually means urbanization, which means even less vegetation overall (because more roads, parking lots, buildings, etc are being built), making all of these problems many times worse.  And, with urbanization comes pollution, which leads to acid rain.  In other words--all in all disastrous effects.