how does deforestation contribute to erosion?
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The loss of trees, which anchor the soil with their roots, causes widespread erosion throughout the tropics. Only a minority of areas have good soils, which after clearing are quickly washed away by the heavy rains. ... The rivers carry the eroded soils downstream, causing significant problems.
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Forests transport large quantities of water into the atmosphere via plant transpiration. This replenishes the clouds and instigates rain that maintains the forests. When deforestation occurs, precious rain is lost from the area, flowing away as river water and causing permanent drying.
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Frequent droughts and floods in eastern Africa can partly be blamed on widespread deforestation in the region, experts have said. "Trees actually do two processes. They drill water into the ground. ... The loss of ground cover due to deforestation resulted in flash floods during heavy rainfall, leading to soil erosion.
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Human Deforestation It's a necessary evil. But deforestation is undeniably harming our environment by contributing to climate change. Forests are very important, because they influence climate through exchanges of energy, water, carbon dioxide, and other chemical species with the atmosphere (Bonan, 2008).
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The immediate causes of rainforest destruction are clear. The main causes of total clearance are agriculture and in drier areas, fuelwood collection. The main cause of forest degradation is logging. Mining, industrial development and large dams also have a serious impact.
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Direct causes of deforestation are agricultural expansion, wood extraction (e.g., logging or wood harvest for domestic fuel or charcoal), and infrastructure expansion such as road building and urbanization. ... Most often, multiple processes work simultaneously or sequentially to cause deforestation.
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Deforestation. Without plant cover, erosion can occur and sweep the land into rivers. The agricultural plants that often replace the trees cannot hold onto the soil and many of these plants, such as coffee, cotton, palm oil, soybean and wheat, can actually worsen soil erosion.
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The Amazon rainforest helps regulate global climate, yet deforestation rates in the nine countries that house the forest are increasing. An expanding agricultural and cattle frontier, together with mining and uncontrolled economic exploitation are some of the primary causes for deforestation.
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Deforestation plays several roles in the flooding equation because trees prevent sediment runoff and forests hold and use more water than farms or grasslands. Some rainwater stays on the leaves, and it may evaporate directly to the air (the more water used in the watershed, the less remains to run off).
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In addition to depleting resources for forest-dependent communities, deforestation is contributing to an increase in small-scale natural disasters. ... “That means when there's heavy rainfall, forest soil can absorb water underground and disburse it to streams.
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But when trees burn, they release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere, where it contributes to climate change. Scientists also fear that over time, the Amazon could suffer so much deforestation that a feedback loop could turn it into an African-savanna-type landscape.
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Deforestation has an effect on global air quality because trees release water vapor into the air which affects atmospheric temperatures and other crucial elements that keep this earth of ours ticking over nicely. ... As well as causing a rise in the global temperature, deforestation affects the air that we breathe.
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Direct causes of deforestation are agricultural expansion, wood extraction (e.g., logging or wood harvest for domestic fuel or charcoal), and infrastructure expansion such as road building and urbanization.
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Soil erosion, while a natural process, accelerates with deforestation. Trees and plants act as a natural barrier to slow water as it runs off the land. Roots bind the soil and prevent it from washing away. The absence of vegetation causes the topsoil to erode more quickly.
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Agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation and severe forest degradation. Except in Africa, large-scale livestock ranching and plantation agriculture are generally overtaking small-scale farming as primary causes of conversion. ... This wood often comes from plantations that replace native forests.
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How does deforestation contribute to loss of drinking water in Haiti? a. Without trees, the eroded soil clogs drinking water pipes. ... Clearing the forest for crops means increased irrigation, which reduces drinking water supplies.
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For every patch of land cleared of trees through deforestation, land becomes available for farmers to plant crops and carryout other agricultural practices such as raising livestock. Deforestation allows farmers to practice subsistence agriculture and commercial agriculture as well.