Water: it is the driving force behind our planet. It is what makes life possible on earth. Water is what runs so many other environmental and biological systems on our planet. But to know how water drives our planet, we first need to know what is the driving force behind water.
Water has the ability to absorb and release vast amounts of heat. This helps to keep the earth’s surface thermostatic. This also helps regulate weather patterns. Heat currents travel from the equator to the poles and then back. This powers earth’s storms, wind and ocean currents. The latent heat of fusion in water is the highest of all common liquids and most solids. The latent heat of vaporization is the heat energy in water vapor.
Water is a polar molecule. A water molecule has a negative pole exposed on the oxygen atom and two positive poles exposed on the hydrogen atoms. The negative ends of the hydrogen atoms bond with the positive end of the oxygen atom. Water molecules exist in a bent shape. This allows for water to be a universal solvent. Water can dissolve many common solids and liquids.
Water has thermostatic properties which allows it to moderate changes in temperature. The property of thermal inertia allows a substance, such as water, to resist change in temperature whether energy is gained or lost. The property of ice means that ice provides a moderating thermostatic effect even if it doesn’t get warm enough to melt. The property of water and air movement describes how water and air currents keep the equator from boiling.
Salinity is the total concentration of dissolved inorganic solids in a body of water. It measures the total amount of salts in water. Salinity is measured by a salinometer; this is done by determinin...
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... pressure is 1atm, equal to the atmosphere above it. Water pressure increases by this amount every 10 meters of depth.
Now that we know a little more about the properties in and of seawater, we can greater understand how it affects life in the ocean as well as life on land. We can also greater appreciate and understand how our weather systems and climate patterns work, and what we can do to preserve them.
Works Cited
Class Notes; Marine science class; January 26, 2010- February 2, 2010.
Oceanography textbook; Houghton Mifflin; New York, NY; February 2, 2010
Mr. Clark; Marine science class; January 26, 2010- February 2, 2010.
USGS: The water cycle; http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclysummary.html; February 21, 2010
How stuff works: water pressure; http://geography.howstuffworks.com/oceans-and-seas/thegeographyofoceans2.htm; February 21, 2010
Water greatly affected technological, economic, political, and legal developments. Technology has to advance in order to get more water while the economy, politics, and laws began to change due to the need for more water, and to this day it has had a lasting effect. Water will always play a major role in our past, present, and future.
The fact that water is necessary for survival makes it a key part of cultures. All major civilizations developed around a large source of water. This allows for agriculture, trade, transport etc. The benefits are numerous and as a result allow for population and economic growth. For human beings, water was not merely a substance that sustained life. It was above all an elemental ingredient in the way people conceived of the world and
Energy transfer had occurred with the “warmer” temperature (water) tried equalizing with the “colder” temperature (ice). But, when this happened, a phase change occurred. As the table above indicates, when the water temperature reached 0 degrees Celsius, it stayed the same because the water particles were losing kinetic energy which led the particles to stop colliding. Once this happened the particles created bonds against each other which resulted in ice. This phase change occurred from the 24 minute mark all the way to the 30 minute mark. Heat of fusion had started from the 24 minutes
Water takes up a larger percentage of the surface of our Earth than does land. The earth’s oceans are vital aspects to our environment and it is necessary that we take care of them. On another note, global warming is an issue that is having effects on almost all aspects of our environment. Global warming itself means a gradual increase in the temperature of our Earth’s atmosphere over large periods of time. There is evidence that global warming has occurred in the atmosphere, however, now we are beginning to see its effects in the world’s oceans, as well. Though some may not see the connection that it has with the oceans, it has had quite a profound effect on our Earth’s oceans. As I mentioned before, oceans are environments that must maintain each characteristic in order to survive. If one aspect of the ocean becomes altered, it leads to many consequences.
All bodies of water are very extraordinary, but salt bodies of water are more fascinating than fresh bodies of water. Salt bodies of water, such as oceans are humongous, replete with life, interesting, dangerous, mysterious, and compelling. Although freshwater lakes can be packed with life, saltwater oceans are more lively. Both lakes and oceans are interesting, but oceans interest more people. In conclusion, Salt bodies of water are more fascinating than fresh bodies of
When heat is applied to solid water, some hydrogen bonds get so much kinetic energy that
Even though saltwater contributes most of the evaporated water, it does not evaporate as fast as freshwater. Fresh water evaporates much faster because of what it is composed of unlike saltwater. Salt water obviously has salt and that is a component that is usually not evaporated. This problem slows down evaporation because the salt molecules are locked into the water molecules and it takes longer to separate them. This shows how much saltwater there is because fresh water evaporates very fast yet there is not enough of it to even compare to how much salt
Water is essential for life. Without water, we would die within days. Early human civilizations were founded on rivers- without them, society would not have advanced and we would still be primitive hunters and gathers.
Water has many strange properties that go against normal scientific thinking, in its different states ...
Contributions by nature to climate change are the consequence of three main elements. First and foremost, greenhouse effect is originally created by nature itself. Greenhouse effect may be defined as an effect in which sunlight is prevented from escaping from the Earth’s atmosphere due to the blockage of gases such as CO2 and H2O vapors. Basically, sunlight, which is emitted from the sun to Earth, is absorbed by the surface and atmosphere of the Earth and delivered back to space in heat form. However, dispelling process of this heat radiation from Earth’s atmosphere is disturbed by the greenhouse gases , which leads to accumulation of heat around the globe. Second, wind and ocean currents are also dominant contributor to climate change. Regulation in wind and ocean currents may affect the global atm...
Water is a necessity for the existence of human beings. Approximately 71 % of the earth is water and it exists in many different forms. From water vapor in the atmosphere, to rivers and lakes on the earth’s surface to glaciers and icecaps to aquifers in the ground. Water is constantly moving from one place to the other and from one state to the other and this process is known as the water cycle. As water evaporates, vapors rise and condense into clouds. The clouds move over the land, and precipitation falls in the form of rain, ice or snow. The water fills streams and rivers, and eventually flows back into the oceans where evaporation starts the process anew. Water 's state (solid, liquid or gas) is determined mostly by temperature. Although water continuously changes states from solid to liquid to gas, the amount of water on Earth remains constant. There is as much water now as there was hundreds of millions of years ago (Project, 1995).
6. When water is distilled, it does not vaporize all at once when the boiling point is reached. When some water molecules evaporate, the kinetic energy of the remaining liquid goes down and the temperature drops slightly. As a result, the rest of the water needs to be heated again before more molecules of water evaporate. A constant source of heat is needed.
The sun makes the water evaporate in the sea and in lakes, which rises and thus is
Water bodies are responsible of the air currents. They are the “Earth Coolers” as they create currents, create winds, causes rains, reflect heat from the sun etc. Without water bodies our earth would be much warmer and difficult place to live for all habitats.
... water moves around the Earth causing our weather. The average weather in an area during a long period of time is climate.