Earth's water is always in movement, and the water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. Since the water cycle is truly a "cycle," there is no beginning or end. Water can change states among liquid, vapor, and ice at various places in the water cycle, with these processes happening in the blink of an eye and over millions of years. Although the balance of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time, individual water molecules can come and go in a hurry. The earth has a limited amount of water, that keeps going around and around and around and around and (you get the idea) in what is called the "Water Cycle". This cycle is made up of a few main parts:
•evaporation (and transpiration)
Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns it into vapor or steam. The water vapor or steam leaves the river, lake or ocean and goes into the air. Condensation:
Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called condensation. Precipitation:
Precipitation occurs when so much water has condensed that the air cannot hold it anymore. The clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow. Collection:
When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it may end up on land. When it ends up on land, it will either soak into the earth or become part of the “ground water” that plants and animals use to drink or it may run over the soil and collect in the oceans, lakes or rivers where the cycle starts…all over again. Only about 3% of Earth’s water is fresh. Two percent of the Earth’s water (about 66% of all fresh water) is in solid form, found in ice caps and glaciers. Because it is frozen and so far away, the fresh water...