‘Flying rivers’ sustain Latin America’s water cycle. But deforestation is draining them

Flying rivers are massive jets of water vapour which flow across Latin America at heights of up to 2km, affecting weather patterns across the continent. Flying rivers are formed of evaporation from the Atlantic Ocean, added to by transpiration from the Amazon rainforest. Added to by transpiration from the Amazon rainforest from which they flow north to the Andes, before being diverted south by the mountains. There they condense into rain and irrigate the farmlands of Brazil, Paraguay Uruguay and northern Argentina.