The Importance of the Planet Earth´s Hydrologic Cycle

The water cycle in the deciduous forest occurs mostly in the stage of transpiration. Although there are bodies of water in the deciduous forest, water also evaporates from the leaves of the plants and into the atmosphere. The water vapor will condense into tiny droplets which form clouds; the clouds will then return the water back to the ground in the form of precipitation. The water falls to the floor of the deciduous forest and travels into the roots of the plants. The cycle will then start over again.

Growing up, we all went through the water cycle lesson and we will never forget it. The reason being, we encounter the water cycle throughout our entire life and it will always effect our systems and more importantly our water system. As illustrated in the picture, our water cycle includes the processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, which then goes to many places. During evaporation, the sun is used as a main power to make this happen. The sun’s rays beat down onto the ground creating all of the moisture and water to fizzle into a gas state into the atmosphere and get stored away into the clouds. When it is stored into the clouds it is condensing. Condensation means that the gas is again forming itself back into its liquid state to get ready to return to Earth. The condensation then forms into precipitation. Precipitation comes in many different forms. You can see it as rain, snow, sleet, or hail making its way back to us. What happens to it then depends on the area. The water might end up as runoff, or become

The state of Michigan is a fascinating area. From its mitten-like shape, to its historical background, to the presence of the Great Lakes, Michigan has a story unlike any others. One very important part of Michigan’s story is how water has shaped the land making up the state. Seeing as the Great Lakes surround Michigan, it is obvious that the hydrologic system plays a great role in the water supply and the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. The hydrologic cycle includes evaporation, condensation, precipitation, groundwater, transpiration and runoff, all of which keep the Great Lakes functioning year after year. The University Corporation of Atmospheric Research developed an image to simply explain the hydrologic cycle as well as graphs explaining how each of the elements of the hydrologic cycle affects The Great Lakes on a monthly basis (located below).

California is currently battling a massive water shortage that is crippling the state. The lack of a rainy season for the last four years is really putting a strain on the local farmers, citizens, and communities. California typically has a Mediterranean type climate where it has a concentrated rainy season for six months and then plunges into high temperatures of dry heat. This has not been the typical pattern the last few years. California has received very little rain and is now searching for ways to conserve and produce water. Scientists believe that there is “blocking ridge” that is caused by high atmospheric pressure that causes disruption of typical wind patterns that blow storms to the California coast. The ridge extends from the subtropical Pacific between California and Hawaii to the coast of Arctic Ocean north of Alaska. California is now looking for ways to conserve water by focusing on water conservation and relandscaping public areas with drought resistant and native plants.

The water cycle represents how water is exchanged and cycled through Earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere (2010 pg.1). Evaporation, condensation, and precipitation are all three main factors within the water cycle. Evaporation occurs when a liquids surface changes to gas. For example, when water from rivers, oceans or lakes evaporate, it becomes water vapor. Condensation occurs when gas changes to a liquid. For example, clouds form when water vapor condescends. Precipitation is described as any liquid or solid water that falls to earth from above. A great and simple example would be rain, snow or hail (2010 pg.1). Within the water cycle, there are three states of water: solid, liquid and gas. Most of Earth’s freshwater is

In The Great Thirst, Norris Hundley offers a comprehensive view of the aboriginal waterscape and how early Native Americans managed the water resources available to them prior to contact with Europeans. He describes a California with abundant water, though not necessarily through rainfall. Depending on the location in California, water can be found in rainfall, runoff from snow melt, and from underground aquifers. At the time of first European contact with the area, these aquifers resulted in underground springs and even fountains coming to the surface of the earth. He discusses rivers, lakes, and marshlands that were year-round, but whose size fluctuated according to the seasons. Furthermore, he discusses how water resources could vary greatly in the area. For example, Hundley discusses both El Nino and La Nina and how they result in fluctuations in precipitation. However, more importantly, Hundley discusses longer periods of drought, which seem to operate independently of the El Nino/ La Nina cycle, and can cause significant shortages in water availability. He discusses the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers and the roles that they play in the waterscape of the area, as well as the numerous underground water rivers that play pivotal roles as well. Finally, Hundley discusses how the source of the water, the Pacific Ocean, creates the precipitation that falls over the California area, resulting

The consistent nature of the water cycle is important in developing a timeline for the erosion

Water can either shape the land with weathering, erosion, or deposition. “What are these things?” you ask, well they’re part of the result caused by the water cycle. The water cycle is all about how water evaporates leaving Earth and entering the atmosphere only to be cooled down, condensed, and fall back to Earth as precipitation. Here is an example of what the water cycle looks like.

California’s ideal weather would be rainy winters and dry summers, but that isn’t the case anymore. Many people are concerned and deeply worried about the world’s constant decrease in the fresh water supply and the social, economic, and environmental issues that are caused from this drought. A textbook definition of a drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall which results in a shortage of water, which is normal considering California has been given the title in its recent years the term drought since 2012. Even though being in a drought is nothing new to California, for the past three years it has experienced severe drought conditions in the

The article entitled “Global Carbon Cycles Regulated by Rivers” written by Jenna Iacurci is about the carbon cycle and how rivers are making a bigger impact than anyone had ever imagined. The article says that scientist have known for a long time that rivers affect the carbon cycle but have not known how much or by what degree until now. The article said that rivers act as circulatory systems. What they do is that they wash out carbon into the ocean. Most of that carbon remains in the ocean for millions of years keeping it out of the atmosphere. The type of carbon that gets washed out is biogenic (plant and soil erosion) and petrogenic (rock erosion). The amount of carbon that gets taken out of the atmosphere and into the ocean is .02 percent.

On May 11th we followed a water molecule through the water cycle. We first picked a place I picked the mountains and we rolled the dice and it would tell us where to go next. The activity we did was very different than the regular diagram of the water cycle diagram. For my molecule evaporation happened I kept going back up to the clouds.

From the material cycles studied, I would like to base my discussion on ‘Water,’ by identifying how the elements of my lifestyle have impacted the cycle. As it general know that water is very essential to life in the ecosystem, through varieties of purposes water is good for, like drinking, cooking, bathing, washing/cleaning, building, toilet flushing, farming and irrigation. Water has a significant effect in the life of a man, and the absence can lead to great occurrence, which can even lead to death, if care is not taken. And as from the readings, “Water is essential to life because it is the substance within which all the chemical reactions of life take place” (Dorsner. K, 2015, p.181). From my part however, my impact on the water cycle

HYDROLOGIC CYCLE The hydrologic cycle is a constant movement of water above, on, and below the earth's surface. It is a cycle that replenishes ground water supplies. It begins as water vaporizes into the atmosphere from vegetation, soil, lakes, rivers, snowfields and oceans-a process called evapotranspiration. As the water vapor rises it condenses to form clouds that return water to the land through precipitation: rain, snow, or hail. Precipitation falls on the earth and either percolates into the soil or flows across the ground. Usually it does both. When precipitation percolates into the soil it is called infiltration when it flows across the ground it is called surface run off. The amount of precipitation that infiltrates, versus the

People are being put through immense pain everyday just to get to water. They walk for hours and hours giving up their lives for the sake of water. They carry five gallons for hours so they can provide water for 4 people, a lot of times its more than 4. They walk thorny bushes with no shoes while carrying 41 pounds on their back. They don't have an education because all their time goes to getting water so they cant do anything to stop the cycle. They don't have an education so they can afford to live in a nicer place that actually has water. They cant get an education because then they wont be able to get water. The water they drink from the river is also polluted with harsh chemicals. Thankfully their is organizations to help with this cause. They include water for people, h2o for life, and water.org.

Water is the lifeblood of every living creature on earth. Approximately 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water. Thought the wonders of nature, water can take on many different forms, form the water we drink, to the ice we use to chill a glass of lemonade, to the water vapor used to steam clean equipment equipment. It is easy to understand the significance water plays in our lives, but it may be much more difficult ot understand the water that exists below the earth's surface, called groundwater.