ENVS 1126 Chapter : Chapter 10
Document Summary
Hydrologic cycle and atmospheric circulation: warming air causes it to rise (we live in troposphere) (more rainfall at low latitudes, hadley cells (circulation cells, brings heat up, cools, and comes back down to earth) Rising air expands and cools; water vapor condenses. Predicted to be more rain, but not uniformly distributed, so the dry areas will get dryer and the wet areas, soaked. Freshwater: 2. 5% of water on earth is fresh water, 2/3 of freshwater is polar ice and glaciers, freshwater is continually renewed via evaporation, condensation, precipitation, from ocean, hydrologic cycle, 99% of freshwater is groundwater. Issues: 40% of crop production is assoc. with irrigation, 19% of electricity is hydroelectric, 1. 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 1. 6 million deaths/year due to water diseases. Most groundwater is safe to drink (arsenic in ganges delta: 137 million people affected by arsenic in drinking water.
