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Chapman University Unveils Rapid Water Cycle Revival: Plant-Mediated Return of Groundwater to Atmosphere
- A new study from Chapman University offers insight into the world's water cycle by giving comprehensive global estimates of water storage within Earth's vegetation and the pace of which this water traverses through plants.
- This information offers further understanding of how vegetation is an active participant in a global exchange of water, further emphasising its significant role in returning moisture to the atmosphere.
- Findings also suggest that changes in vegetation, including deforestation or urbanization, could have significant implications for weather patterns, climate models, and water management processes.
- The research team used satellite data from NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission to examine the role vegetation plays in soil moisture dynamics.
- Each month's worth of data has a remarkable spatial resolution of just 9 square kilometers, showing how, within ecosystems, significant variability occurred in water transit times across different seasonal periods.
- Factors such as deforestation, drought, and wildfires not only affect the amount of water stored in vegetation but fundamentally alter the time it takes for water to travel through the cycle.
- The study challenges the idea that vegetation commonly overlooked in diagrams and discussions about the hydrological cycle, asserting that they are integral and essential components of the cycle.
- Use of this research could improve global water management policies by allowing better hydrological predictions in the face of environmental changes.
- Understanding the water flow through vegetation will be increasingly important in adapting to and mitigating environmental challenges facing populations and ecosystems alike.
- The study, conducted at Chapman University, represents a pivotal shift in ecological research and climate science that shows the importance of a multidimensional lens when addressing environmental issues.
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