Water Wonders Essay

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Water Wonders Introduction The earth can be divided up into four "spheres", the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. Any form of life or material on or near the surface of the earth is in any one of these four spheres. The names of the four spheres originated from the Greek words for stone (litho), air (atmo), water (hydro), and life (bio). This report will describe and discuss the Hydrosphere. The Hydrosphere This report will explain how the hydrosphere is connected to the other components on Earth. The hydrosphere is composed of all of the water on or near the earth. This includes the oceans, rivers, lakes, and even the moisture in the air. 97 percent of the earth's water is in the oceans. The remaining three percent is fresh water; three-quarters of the fresh water is solid and exists in ice sheets. The Sun The Sun affects the hydrosphere through the water cycle. Here the Sun evaporates the water and is a key in the cycle. The Sun is also included in the carbon cycle plants photosynthesise from the Sun. Water Cycle The hydrosphere is linked with the lithosphere, atmosphere and the biosphere all through the water cycle. The Water Cycle (also known as the hydrologic cycle) is the journey water takes as it circulates through the different spheres of the Earth; see Figure 1 below. Figure 1 Water Cycle Figure 1 Water Cycle The Sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in oceans and seas. Water evaporates as water vapour into the air. Ice and snow can transfer directly into water vapour. Evapotranspiration is water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil. Rising air currents take the vapour up into the atmosphere where cooler temperatures cause it to condense into clouds. Air currents move water vapour around the globe; cloud particles collide, grow, and fall out of the upper atmospheric layers as precipitation. Some precipitation

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