The water world

Why is water important to the health of the planet
How can water resources be managed sustainably

?
Main stores and flows of hydrological cycle
Oceans, polar ice and glaciers, groundwater, lakes,soils, atmosphere, rivers, living things
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Evaporation
Liquid -> gas
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Condensation
Gas -> liquid
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Infiltration
Movement of water to soil from surface
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Percolation
Movement of water into underlying rocks
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Groundwater storage
Water stored in rocks following percolation
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Saturation
When soil is full of moisture
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Evapotranspiration
Combined process of evaporation and transpiration ( movement of water as water vapour from leaves to atmosphere)
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Water table
Level at which saturation occurs in ground or soil
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Green water
Evapotranspiration of water without it even reaching the ground
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Impact on precipitation
Warmer temp. Leading to more rainfall instead of snow, more rain in less time and precipitation levels increase
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Impact on evaporation
As atmosphere gets warmer, evaporation increases which leads to increased moisture in atmosphere. Drought will also be more likely due to more evaporation from soil
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Impact on river flow
Earlier spring, mountain snows melting earlier so more river flow which means more river flow in spring than in summer. Reduced availability of fresh water in hot months
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Impact in drought
Increased drought
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The Sahel
Narrow belt of land south of Sahara desert. Rain only falls in 2 months only , with total level at the max of 450 mm. In LIC with countries like Chad, Niger.
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Impact of water supply on people
More waterborne diseases e.g cholera killing more people, more time spent collecting water, high risk of crop failure, everyday tasks made difficult, facilities may not open due to lack of water, in slums people pay high prices for clean water
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Industrial pollution
From high economic growth. Chemicals can poison rivers, killing life. Radioactive substances disposed can lead to cancer (leukaemia) and thermal waste reduces rivers ability to get O2.
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Intensive agriculture
Chemicals increase crop yield but run off from chemicals increase water pollution from fertilisers causing eutrophication. Solid(slurry) pollutes rivers which deprives O2 into river- kills many organisms.
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Sewage disposal
Diseases e.g. Cholera caused by harmful bacteria, sewage consumes O2 in water and kills many organisms suspended solid changes water colour and kills fish
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Eutrophication
Process by which ecosystems (lakes) become more fertile as fertilisers and sewage waste flow in, resultant loss of O2 kills all species that need O2 to survive
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Over abstraction
Too much water is being taken from water sources
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Three Gorges Dam
$26 billion to complete. Designed to reduce seasonal flooding and improve water supply by regulating river flow, generate electricity and make the river easier for ships to navigate. 1.3 million people had to be relocated from 1350 villages
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Intermediate technology
Not as up to date or expensive as high tech technology but meets the needs of the people and environment
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NGO
non government organisations which fund development schemes in LICs.
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Rainwater harvesting
Gutters collect water -> collected in big tank and pit is dug to retrieve water near housing
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Hand dug / tube wells
Water can be obtained by buckets from wells
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Liquid -> gas

Back

Evaporation

Card 3

Front

Gas -> liquid

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Movement of water to soil from surface

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Movement of water into underlying rocks

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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