The importance and uses of water

The Importance of Water

• Water allows organic molecules to mix, facilitating the evolution of complex lifeforms
• Earth's distance from the sun places it in the "Goldilocks Zone," perfect for liquid water
• Liquid water is rare when comparing Earth to other planets
• Liquid water on Earth creates stable thermal conditions
• Water covers 71% of Earth's surface
• Water absorbs and slowly releases heat
• Water is stored in clouds
• Earth has microdroplets and ice crystals
• Clouds reflect solar radiation
• Water absorbs longwave terrestrial radiation
• Average temperatures are approximately 15C higher on earth

Uses of Water

• Water is 65-95% of living organisms
• Plants use water for Photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration
• CO2, sunlight, and water combine in leaves make glucose and starches.
• Animals and plants convert glucose to energy via respiration, releasing water and CO2
• Water helps maintain plant rigidity
• Plants are able to use water, to transport mineral nutrients
• Animal's bodies all chemical reactions occur in water
• Humans and animals circulate oxygen in water
• Transpiration cools plants, similar to sweating in humans
• Panting in animals is also a cooling process
• Water is an economic resource for electricity generation and crop irrigation

Carbon's Significance

• Carbon is stored in carbonate rocks, sea floor sediments, oceans, and the atmosphere
• Carbon creates proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids
• Fossil fuels power the global economy
• Oil creates plastics and paint
• Crops and trees store carbon for human consumption

Global Cycles

• Water and carbon exist in closed systems between the atmosphere, oceans, land, and biosphere
• Water molecules and carbon atoms cycle in time scales lasting from days to millions of years
• The global water cycle has: an atmosphere, oceans, and land
• The oceans are the largest water store, followed by land, then the atmosphere
• Water goes between stores through precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff, and groundwater flow
• Sedimentary rocks hold 99.9% of Earth's carbon
• Carbon in circulation moves rapidly between the atmosphere, oceans, soils, and biosphere
• Carbon cycles through photosynthesis, respiration, oxidation, and weathering

Open and Closed Systems

• Systems are groups of objects bound together
• Water and carbon cycles are global closed systems driven by the sun's energy
• Only energy crosses the boundaries of global water and carbon cycles
• Materials and energy both cross system boundaries in open systems

Describing the Global Water Cycle

• Reservoirs store water for different time lengths
• The oceans hold 97% of Earth's water
• Fresh water is a tiny fraction of the stored water
• 75% of freshwater is frozen in ice caps spanning in Antarctica and Greenland
• 1/5 of freshwater is stored in permeable rocks underground
• Water is rapidly transferred into and out of the atmosphere
• Average duration of molecules in the atmosphere for only nine days
• The global water cycle budget circulates 505,000km3 of water yearly
• Evaporation and transpiration provide water in the atmosphere
• Evapotranspiration includes evaporation from oceans, soils, lakes, and rivers
• Precipitation and condensation take moisture out of the atmosphere
• Ice sheets glaciers, and snowfields release water via ablation
• Runoff moves precipitation and meltwater to rivers from land
• Some rivers in drylands drain into inland basins
• Infiltration sends water through soil to rivers
• Gravity feeds permeable rocks/aquifers after infiltration
• Groundwater is eventually returned to the surface as springs or seepages

Defining the Global Carbon Cycle

• Stores and flows connect the global carbon cycle and its stores or sinks
• The atmosphere, the oceans, carbonate rocks, fossil fuels, plants and soils are key stores
• Carbonate rocks are the largest carbon store
• Most carbon not stored in rocks is dissolved CO2 in oceans
• Plants and soils are crucial to the carbon cycle, despite their small size

Inputs and Outputs

• Carbon cycle has slow and fast cycles

Slow Carbon Cycle

• Carbon is stored for millions of years in rocks and sediments
• The cycle moves 10-100 million tonnes per year
• CO2 is diffused when marine organisms fix dissolved carbon with CaCO3
• Heat and pressure converts dead surface organisms into carbon rich sedimentary rocks
• Carbon stays in rocks for around 150 million years
• Weathering and volcanic eruptions vent carbon to the atmosphere from sedimentary rock
• Precipitation charged with CO2 creates carbonic acid and causes chemical weathering

The Fast Carbon Cycle

• Carbon circulates faster between the atmosphere, oceans, living organisms, and soils
• Transfers are between 10 and 1000 faster than the slow carbon cycle
• Plants and Phytoplankton makes carbohydrates from water to absorb atmospheric CO2
• Animal and Plant Respiration emits CO2 and is the counterpart to photosynthesis
• Decomposition returns CO2 to the atmosphere
• Atmospheric CO2 dissolves in ocean surface waters
• Oceans ventilate CO2 back to the atmosphere
• These atoms are stored in oceans for 350 years

Water Cycle Definitions

• Precipitation = Evapotranspiration + Streamflow (+/-) water entering or leaving storage

Flows

• Flows connect different stores

Precipitation

• Water/Ice fall forms clouds toward the ground
• Precipitation includes drizzle, sleet, snow, and hail
• Dew Point is vapor in atmosphere that vapor cools to
• Condensation forms particles of cloud of ice

Precipitation Properties

• Most rain flows into streams and rivers
• Snow might remain for longer than several months
• There is a lag time between snow and runoff
• Precipitation moves rapidly into rivers with high intensity
• Linked with depression and deposits large amount of precipitation
• Some areas have specific rainy seasons

Transpiration

• Transpiration comes from the diffusion of leaf pore
• About 10% of atmosphere moisture comes from transpiration
• Temperature, Wind speed and water influence transpiration
• Deciduous tree sheds leave to affect moisture through transpiration in dry season

Condensation

• vapor changes to liquid phase occurring when air is cooled dew point
• critical temperature leads to air saturation results in condensation formation through condensation in atmosphere

Cloud formation

• Cumuliform clouds have flat bases and develop vertically from air heated by surface
• Stratiform or layer clouds develop horizontally through cooler

Cloud Formation and Lapse Rates Definitions

• Cooling cause by Warmed Air, Air masses crossing terrain or mixing

Lapse Rates

• Vertical distribution of Temperature that influence formation of clouds
• ELR: Average temperature is the vertical profile through gaining 6.5 per kilometer
• DALR: cooling of Air Cooling for dry approximately 10% per kilometer
• SALR: Saturated Cools Atmosphere approximately 7% per km/h

Catchment Hydrology

• Evaporation leads water from liquid phase to vapor phases
• Heat breaks bonds of water
• Latent Heat release later

Interception:

• Vegetation has proportion from precipitation stored Temporarily
• Moisture flows ground after period through stems for rainwater that is intercepted before it drips to the ground

Factors for affecting capacity:

• Intensity of the storm, initial interception and Turbulences

Infiltration

• Two paths exist for water that not storage
• Overland Flow is the rainfall and infiltration for the surface water

Percolation Underground

• water migrates for underground pores to springs for water level to rise with Overland Flow

Cryospheric Processes

• Ablation is loss of melting Ice that contributes to river flow
• Thawing of Snow can cause flood

Processes for the Carbon exchanges

• Process all includes precipitation

Carbon exchanges:

• Rainfall dissolving
• Man made emissions, have affect acidity of oceans

Weathering:

• Causes chemical, physical breakdown over earth surface
• Rainwater Is the major for dissolving limestone that releases into atmosphere
• Solution weathering helps release carbon
• Carbon that is decaying releases water

Respiration:

• CO2 to carbs, for breathing.

Decomposition:

• breaks down organic matter, returning back carbon

Combustion:

• Burn reaction organic Material
• Fires help clean up the materials
• Burning of fuels
• Humans are causing fuel that is geologic

Physical Ocean Pump:

• Mixing Ocean waters
• CO2 ocean Diffusion of water becoming more dense

Biological/Organic Pump:

• Carbon change actions of organisms.
• Half of carbon is photosynthesis
• Animals consumed CO2

Amazon Rainforest

• Amazon Rainforest: Occurring over South
• Large vegetation

Rainforest Water Cycle

• The climate features High temperature
• Rainfall all year
• Evapotranspiration occurs there
• Water vapor atmosphere

Amazon soil

• Abundant soils
• Plants absorbs minerals

Relief

• overland flow with the surface to stream
• Temperature : Transpiration high from storm forming
• Carbon is is principle in Amazon from atmosphere

Human factors

• The deforestation from account logging farming
• Devastating from storms the main of flood causes Bolivia to reduce run off with rapid

Management:

• Degrading: Restoring of forests
• Indigenous people's main the water balance sustainably
• Forests are protection
• Forest projects

The Arctic Tundra

• Climate condition the with temperatures below -40 C, of 8mil km2 over the arctic canada
• Permafrost is key the Tundra
• Few plants
• Water is low and humidity

Tundra

• Low Annual, precipitation with soil moisture.
• Runoffs
• Low Temperature and liquid, water that limit plants, growth and carbon soils
• Low Temperatures causes Co2 emissions that disturb roads and melting

Water Cycle Monitoring

• Temp, sea ice essential needs remote sensing for the use carbon and satellite
• Need continuous that analyze trends on GIS and water usage

Water:

• Significant in time frame and lower tempoature
• Direct and convection

Fluctuations

• Tropical and seasonal levels driving the NPP by releasing back carbon is high by continent and oceans
• Isotherms are created through ocean climates causing large growth

Ice Ages:

• Record climate the with water over surface
• There there have glacial impacts

Cycle/Carbon

Decreases surface of Co2 over ocean surface

Extents:

• Linked the water
• Rising Co2 that links cycles
• Complex
• Affecting is greenhouse effect

Vegetation and Water:

• Water influences: litter production influences the heat

Humin Activities that are affecting

• Run off changes through
• Co2 changes occur as well by emissions to levels
• Global actions are required to protect
• Water: wetlands protect restoration by managing that includes: wildlife
• Foresty protection that includes: the UN supports them and all the protected for bank has protected

Water Action Allocation

• Harvest: That harvest and recover as harvest to have
• Areas are allocated in Indus valley

Drainage

Agriculture impact wild life levels

Global Water Cycle

• Global Water Cycle changes, causes rising water
• More vapor, higher runs and latitudes for more frequent
• Permafrost to sea waters

Carbon Cycle

• High to atmosphere level for to high level
• Land levels for forests protect
• The is now a movement restore land and forests