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Just read that a mature oak can transpire over 40,000 gallons of water a year
Found that in a forestry journal from the university library. Honestly makes you think differently about how much work a big tree is actually doing, doesn't it?
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max_cooper211mo ago
Wait, doesn't that water have to go somewhere? I mean, 40,000 gallons is like a small swimming pool. That's a huge amount of water vapor getting pumped into the air right around that tree. It has to make the local air more humid, maybe even help form those low mists you see in forests. It's not just going quietly back into the dirt.
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olivia_lopez9816d ago
Actually, a lot of that water does end up going back into the soil, not just floating off into the air. The tree roots pull water up, but most of it gets released through the leaves as vapor, which then condenses back into the ground around the tree or gets absorbed by other plants nearby. That mist you see in forests is more from temperature changes and dew forming overnight, not directly from one tree pumping out that much water at once. It's a cycle, but it's slower and more spread out than people realize.
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charles7201mo ago
Wow, that's a crazy amount of water. So where does all that water actually go? Is it just going into the air around the tree, or does it help make clouds or change the weather right there?
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