As we all know, Earth is the only planet that could able to support life. It has the right distance from the sun suitable for the life of existence. It is also composed of the atmosphere that has the right amount of gases that the life need to exist. The planet Earth also has WATER which covers about 70% in Earth's surface. In fact, Earth is often called "Blue Planet" because it ts mostly covered of water, that made up of freshwater in rivers and lakes, the saltwater of the sea oceans and estuaries, the groundwater and water vapor and together, all these water bodies are called HYDROSPHERE.
The Hydrosphere represents one components of the earth's system, operating in conjunction with the solid crust which is the lithosphere and the air that envelopes the planet which is the atmosphere. It really reflects the abundance and importance of the water on earth. Water is constantly being cycled through it's various manifestation and components of Earth's system by means of Hydrological cycle. The water is evaporated through ocean surface and distributed over the earth as water vapor and it returns to the earth through precipitation.
As humans, who were one of the users of the water, we sometimes to take our hydrosphere for granted and forgot the role of this part of the earth that plays in keeping us alive.
There are some important functions of the Hydrosphere that we need to know and understand. One of the most important of water is that it is essential to life. The daily use of human in daily living. Our body is consist of water. Approximately, human body is consist of 60% of water, blood is about 50% and our brain is 77% of water. It shows how really water essentials to us humans. Water also used as a domestic needs such as used in washing and cleaning. Without water we can't survive and the plants and animals we take as our food will not exist.
Hydrosphere provides a habitat, an important place for many animals and plants to live in Industry and even in forest. Many gases, nutrients, as well as ions are dissolved in water. The presence of these substances is critical for life existence because of water.
It also uses in regulating climate, one of water's unique characteristics is its specific heats which means the water takes a long time to heat up and a long time to cool down. It is helping in regulating the temperatures on earth so that they will stay within the range that is important for life to exist. One of this is the ocean currents help to disperse heat.
Water is also help in generating electricity through Hydro-power.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
“Land Use Change Influences continental Water Cycle”
In Water cycle, water changes state in liquid, solid (ice), and gas (water vapor). The water gets into atmosphere through evaporation. Water vapor took place through the energy of the Sun. The water vapor that form from ice and snow through the process called sublimation and can evaporates from plants through the process called transpiration. Through condensation, the water vapor rises in the atmosphere and form into tiny water droplets which are the clouds, it combines and forms into big and heavy and stays in the air. Then it will collapse and fall in the ground in the form of rain, snow, and other type of precipitation.
The water cycle was not just made from the sea, ocean, and the like but also in land area such as in forest. Tropical forests play an important role in the global water cycle. One of the example of water cycle from forest were in Amazon forest were more than 50% responsible for the rainfall in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Southern Brazil, where it feeds crops and rivers. Also in Africa, the Congo forest exports tons of water through the atmosphere to the West- African countries.
“Land use changes such as irrigation, dams, and deforestation, potentially affecting water resources in distant region influenced in water cycle according to Van der Ent.
In Moisture recycle, the water falling as precipitation in one region or country was originated from other or in a distant region. In other words, the moisture that recycled was originated as evaporation within the region. The role of moisture recycling patterns and the distribution of global water resources were covered by global wind patterns, topography, and land.
In other regions of the Earth, which are the regions that covered with forests they have excellent balance between moisture in the soil, evaporation from the soil and rain falling back to the soil. Regions that contain an abundance of plant life with an abundance of rain are so called rain forests.
In Deforestation, the forests evaporate the water to the atmosphere. According to the researcher named Miriam Gerrits,” the forests floors are responsible for evaporations in forests. When the forests will lose, it will result not only reducing the evaporation from the trees but also in reducing the evaporation from the forests floor. And that could result into global consequences for rainfall, water resources and food security when resulting into local decrease of evaporations.
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