Water Cycle Steps

Understand Water Cycle Steps

Living organism, atmosphere and earth maintain between them a circulation of water and moisture, which is referred as water cycle. Water is essential to life on earth.Water Cycle steps It may present in its three phase soil, liquid and gas ties together the major parts of earth’s climate system- air, clouds, ocean, lakes, vegetation, snowpack, and glaciers. Water covers about 71% of the earth’s surface.95% of total water on earth is chemically bound into rocks and does not occur in cycle about 97.3% is in the ocean, about 2.1% exists as ice in the polar caps and permanent glaciers and the rest is fresh water in the form of water vapour, groundwater, soil, water or inland surface water. Humans use water for drinking, industrial applications, irrigating agriculture, hydropower, recreation. waste disposal and It is important that water sources are protected both for human uses and ecosystem health.

The stages involved in a complete water cycle Steps are -

Evaporation and Transpiration

The sun’s energy heats up the lakes, rivers, ocean, swamps and other waterbodies which increase the temperature of water. Some water evaporates as water vapour into the air. The rising air currents take the vapour up in the air. Plants and trees also lose water to the atmosphere in through minute pores oг stomata in the leaves of plants by the process of Transpiration.

Condensation

* As the vapours rise high the cooler temperature make them cool down and turn back into liquid by process of condensation. Wind and air currents move the moisture around, leading to the formation of clouds.

Precipitation

* Water movements cause the clouds particles to collide. As they become water laden, they develop into rain bearing clouds and fall back onto the earth surface by the process known as precipitation. This may occur in the form of rain, hail, snow depending upon the temperature condition.

Collection

* The precipitation either runs off into the oceans, rivers and ground surface or is absorbed into the soil (infiltration). Water is again ready to evaporate and continue the cycle and thus bringing freshwater to people, animal and plants helping them survive all around the earth.