ENV100Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 37: Ocean Current, Drainage Basin, Water Cycle

• School: UTM
• Department: Environment
• Course: ENV100Y5
• Professor: Barbara Murck

Document Summary

Shapes the surface: allows for life, exists in all 3 states. Important in moving heat from equator to the poles: rises as vapour; falls as rain/snow. Sculpts terrestrial landscape: carrier for many substances. Study of water hydrosphere, both on and under the ground: movement, distribution, quantity, quality: reservoirs, processes, ecosystems. Freshwater = few dissolved salts: only 2. 5% of earth"s water is fresh. The hydrologic cycle from a systems perspective: reservoirs, ocean; ice caps; glaciers; groundwater, processes, precipitation, surface runoff. Fluxes: the global hydrologic cycle maintains mass balance - total amount of water is fixed, local variations affect supply, and cause problems like floods and droughts. Solar energy: evaporation, transpiration, condensation: gravity: precipitation, runoff, groundwater, percolation. Climate change will cause additional water problems and shortages. Shift northward in mid latitude rain belt: earlier snowmelt and spring runoff, more evapotranspiration, drier summers in the interior continental region, warmer rivers. Types of surface water pollution: nutrient pollution, from fertilizers, etc.