The Hydrological Cycle: The Circulatory Cycle Of Water

As deadly as water can be at times, it is also essential for life on this planet we call home. There is a fixed amount of it on earth – none can be added, just as none can be lost. It doesn’t always seem this way when it is not where is once was, making it inaccessible, or when it is now where it was not before, making it inconvenient. Much like rocks, water ends up in different places, at different times, taking on different forms. For water, the forms it can take on are liquid, solid, or gas, and they can determine at which point in the hydrologic cycle is in action. The hydrological cycle studies the circulatory flow cycle of water through land, oceans, and atmosphere. Of course there can be naturally occurring incidents within this

These clouds will only go but so high, it gets colder the higher they go making it hard for the clouds to contain that moisture any longer, and thus precipitating. When water evaporates and forms these clouds it leaves the salt behind taking only fresh water, so when it precipitates that water returning to earth’s surface and bodies of water should be fresh. However, because of human activities large amounts of acidic components are released in to the air and precipitation brings down these suspended articles with it. If there is too much acidity in the air it increases the amount of acid rain. This is particularly bad for areas with a significant amount of limestone. Acid rain breaks down limestone and can cause caves, and sinkholes come from the top of those caves collapsing. One heavily populated state that sits on top of a lot of limestone is Florida. Caves do not last very long, and with an increase in acid rain it decreases that lifespan and increases the numbers of

Water runs off impermeable surfaces or steep slopes, but erodes and take things with it as it is on the move. The water is controlled to go in to storm drains, leading to bigger bodies of water or lakes, such as Lake Arbor, created for storm water management. However not everything always goes as “planned” and when the sediment and waste is carried away with this runoff in to our fresh water, this is known as eutrophication. An example of this would be when humans over fertilize their lawns and when it precipitates the excess water that runs off to bigger surface water takes that fertilizer with it. This results in aqua plants using that fertilizer to grow and using too much of the oxygen in the water, not leaving enough for other life in the water. In places like the Chesapeake Bay, this is what causes dead zones. People often don’t consider that what they do affects places like this because of the distance, but that water has to go somewhere no matter what watershed they are a part