Global Weather & Climate Center
  • Home
  • About
    • GWCC Is
    • Where in the World is GWCC?
    • Contact Us
  • Global Regions
    • Africa
    • Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea
    • Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean
    • Central and South America
    • Europe
    • North America
    • Indian Ocean and Asia
    • Polar Regions
    • South Pacific Ocean and Australia
    • Western Pacific Ocean
  • Weather
    • Applied Meteorology >
      • Air Quality
      • Aviation
      • Droughts
      • Fire Weather
      • Flooding
      • Geosciences
      • Global Environmental Topics
      • Weather Observations
    • Weather Education
    • Weather History
    • Weather Research
    • Weather Safety and Preparedness
    • Severe Weather
    • Social Sciences
    • Space Weather
    • Tropical Cyclones
    • Weather and Health
    • Winter Weather
  • Climate
  • GWCC Global Imagery Archive
  • GWCC Window to the World
    • GOES-16 Live Satellite Imagery Portal
    • GOES-16 ABI Channel Description and Examples
    • GOES-16 ABI Satellite Products
    • GOES-17 Live Satellite Imagery Portal
    • Himawari-8 Live Satellite Imagery Portal
    • Meteosat-11 Live Satellite Imagery Portal
  • Kids Corner
    • Kindergarten to 5th Grade
    • 6th to 12th grade
    • Fun Facts & Weather Trivia
    • GWCC Weather Radar Education
    • GWCC Wheel of Science

Drought Topics

Relationship between Trees and their Environment (Credit: Popular Science)

7/8/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
DISCUSSION: Trees have a complicated two-way relationship with the environment which depends on several factors, including type of tree and location.  In general, the environment influences trees in straightforward ways.  For example, drought conditions (when water levels are significantly below normal) can obviously, dry a tree out, making it easier to burn and potentially making disease or insect infestation more likely.  Any condition that reduces sunlight (e.g., volcanic eruption) would slow photosynthesis and tree growth.
 
Not only does the environment influence vegetation, but trees also impact their environment.  Trees and other vegetation absorb carbon dioxide.  On a global, aggregate scale, this absorption can help partially mitigate the warming caused by the increase of that gas and others like it in our atmosphere.  Unfortunately, humans are releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere far faster than trees (or the oceans) can absorb it.  But, Earth’s global mean temperature would be rising faster without vegetation and the oceans.
 
Trees can also influence environmental conditions on a more local scale.  Abundant rain falls over tropical rainforests because the tropics are mostly covered by water, there is abundant energy to evaporate the water, and intense solar heating of the land surface generates rising motion there.  Trees in the tropics readily pull moisture from the soil and transpire (evaporation from vegetation) it into the atmosphere.  This enhances the local water vapor content of the atmosphere and further enhances rainfall. 
 
A recent study suggests that certain trees could have the opposite effect and actually enhance drought conditions.  When drought conditions exist and rains finally come, some trees (e.g., oak trees in California) rapidly absorb and transpire the added water from the soil, quickly drying the soil again and perpetuating drought conditions.  In contrast, other trees usually found in cooler climates (e.g., cedars, pines) slowly absorb water from the soil as it becomes available, keeping soil water levels higher for longer.  One of the main takeaways from the new study is that some trees may be less appropriate in drought-prone regions, or such trees should be planted with a variety of other trees that are more drought-resistant.
 
For more drought-related information, click
here
!
 
© 2019 Meteorologist Dr. Kenneth Leppert II
0 Comments

    Archives

    April 2020
    July 2019
    January 2019
    April 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016


    RSS Feed

© 2022, Global Weather and Climate Center
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
​Webmaster - Stephen Piechowski
  • Home
  • About
    • GWCC Is
    • Where in the World is GWCC?
    • Contact Us
  • Global Regions
    • Africa
    • Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea
    • Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean
    • Central and South America
    • Europe
    • North America
    • Indian Ocean and Asia
    • Polar Regions
    • South Pacific Ocean and Australia
    • Western Pacific Ocean
  • Weather
    • Applied Meteorology >
      • Air Quality
      • Aviation
      • Droughts
      • Fire Weather
      • Flooding
      • Geosciences
      • Global Environmental Topics
      • Weather Observations
    • Weather Education
    • Weather History
    • Weather Research
    • Weather Safety and Preparedness
    • Severe Weather
    • Social Sciences
    • Space Weather
    • Tropical Cyclones
    • Weather and Health
    • Winter Weather
  • Climate
  • GWCC Global Imagery Archive
  • GWCC Window to the World
    • GOES-16 Live Satellite Imagery Portal
    • GOES-16 ABI Channel Description and Examples
    • GOES-16 ABI Satellite Products
    • GOES-17 Live Satellite Imagery Portal
    • Himawari-8 Live Satellite Imagery Portal
    • Meteosat-11 Live Satellite Imagery Portal
  • Kids Corner
    • Kindergarten to 5th Grade
    • 6th to 12th grade
    • Fun Facts & Weather Trivia
    • GWCC Weather Radar Education
    • GWCC Wheel of Science