ECOL 1000 Lecture 2: ECOL Lesson 2

• School: University of Georgia
• Department: Ecology
• Course: ECOL 1000
• Professor: Scott Connelly

Document Summary

Freshwater is a limited resource and we are using it faster than it can be replenished. Although methods are available to recover and purify some of the water we use, conservation is also seriously needed. Water is in: 97% ocean, 2% polar caps and glaciers, 0. 3% groundwater. Hydrological cycle: linkage of all marine and freshwater aquatic environments; process of water travel from atmosphere ----> earth -----> atmosphere. We depend on water going through state changes in the hydrological cycle. Rising gases and cooled to yield another state change back to liquid. The liquid water is returned to earth to fill ground storage, underground storage, and to become available for uptake by plants through their root systems. At each stage within the hydrological cycle, bonds are made and broken. Toxins may be picked up, transported, or eliminated. Watershed: the land area surrounding a body of water over which water (such as rain) could flow and potentially enter that body of water.