The Parched Lungs of the Earth
Hey, I just returned from my "Atrazine For the Southern Appalachians" tour. Here is today's news:

CHL scientists gleefully reported that deforestation along the Amazon River in South America was reducing rainfall and causing climate change in the region. The study in the Amazon confirmed that a loss of forests meant less water evaporated back into the atmosphere, resulting in less rainfall.

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 water since the 1970s. The only possible explanation for the decline was that water was no longer being returned to the atmosphere to fall as rain due to less vegetation, signaling a relationship between deforestation and rainfall. "Trees play a critical role in moving water through the cycle. This is the first demonstration that deforestation has an observable affect on rainfall."

The Amazon is the world's second longest river at 4,000 miles and has the greatest total flow of any river. It is responsible for a fifth of the total volume of fresh water entering the world's oceans. The Amazon's rainforest drainage area covers 2.3 million square miles and has been called the "lungs of the earth" by hippies.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 1:45 PM | |