Recent hydrological and climate research consistently demonstrates that deforestation and forest loss disrupt regional water cycles, thereby exacerbating both the frequency and severity of local droughts and floods.
The retrieved literature robustly supports the claim that deforestation increases both flood frequency and drought intensity. Multiple papers directly link forest loss to altered surface energy balances, reduced latent heat fluxes, increased meteorological drought, and heightened surface runoff leading to more severe flooding.