They found that for more than 60 percent of the tropical land surface, air that has passed over extensive vegetation in the preceding few days produces at least twice as much rain as air that has passed over little vegetation. Studies find that the more productive vegetation at that time led to enhanced rainfall.

Drought can lead to increases in wildfire and insect outbreaks, local species extinctions, forest diebacks, and altered rates of carbon, nutrient, and water cycling – all of which can have real consequences for ecosystems and human communities alike.

Forests can soak up excess rainwater, preventing run-offs and damage from flooding. By releasing water in the dry season, forests can also help provide clean water and mitigate the effects of droughts.

“We have many more trees too, which you won’t find anywhere else in the world but Singapore. Singapore is the best place for trees,” she added menacingly, before anybody else could say anything else.As ubiquitous as these gigantic trees are to India, Rain trees (Albizia saman) are actually from Mexico and Brazil.

They give us clean water to drink, air to breathe, shade and food to humans, animals and plants. They provide habitats for numerous species of fauna and flora, firewood for cooking and heat, materials for buildings and places of spiritual, cultural and recreational importance.

Growing trees take water from the soil and release it into the atmosphere. Tree leaves also act as interceptors, catching falling rain, which then evaporates causing rain precipitation elsewhere — a process known as evapo-transpiration.

The trees help in bringing rain in an indirect way through the process called transpiration. Through transpiration, trees leave the extra water through the stomata on the leaf surfaces. The water evaporates into the air and adds to the moisture of the air. So the air gets saturated faster and brings rain.

The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people.

Forests are a critical cog in the global water cycle: Trees pull water from the ground and release it into the atmosphere as vapor through pores in their leaves in a process called transpiration, which can drive temperatures and rainfall across the globe.

The water cycle is often taught as a simple circular cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

The water cycle is an extremely important process because it enables the availability of water for all living organisms and regulates weather patterns on our planet. If water didn’t naturally recycle itself, we would run out of clean water, which is essential to life.

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.

But deforestation is having another worrisome effect: an increase in the spread of life-threatening diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. For a host of ecological reasons, the loss of forest can act as an incubator for insect-borne and other infectious diseases that afflict humans.