C ENV 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Volumetric Flow Rate

• School: UW
• Department: College of the Environment
• Course: C ENV 110
• Professor: Ray Hilborn

Document Summary

C env 110 lecture 2 water in the biosphere. Dependent on how much freshwater is available for farmers in a given location. Avg. human relies on 1000l per day. 90% of water use is for food production. Irrigation in places that were not hospitable for agriculture --> green revolution!! (food production has increased by 2x or 3x) 3 main components: storage pools (where water is stored) Mostly from oceans, lakes, ground water: fluxes among pools (physical movements of water from pools) Allows water to move throughout the cycle. Only the starred ones are really usable ~0. 31% The turnover rate of a pool: how long it would take to refill if you drained it. Residence time = volume / flow rate. How long it also takes for water to be able to flush out toxins. Mechanisms for spatial variation in precipitation: large scale circulation patterns (ex. Where you get mountains that interact with prevailing winds coming off the ocean.