Human Ressons For Changes To The Water Cycle

Question 1

What are the three main reasons for human changes to the water cycle?

Answer 1

Farming practices
Land use change
Water abstraction

Question 2

What is water abstraction?

Answer 2

Water removed from stores for human use

Question 3

How does farming practices effect the water cycle?

Answer 3

Ploughing breaks up the surface increasing infiltration.

Arable farming increases interception and evapotranspiration.

Pastoral farming compacts soils reducing infiltration and increasing runoff.

Irrigation removes water from local rivers decreasing their flow.

Question 4

How does land use change effect the water cycle?

Answer 4

Deforestation reduces interception, evapotranspiration but increases infiltration.

Construction reduces infiltration and evapotranspiration due to impermeable surfaces but increases runoff.

Question 5

How does water abstraction effect the water cycle?

Answer 5

Reduces volume of water in surface stores.

It increases in dry season as water is needed for irrigation.

There’s a global long term water store shortage as human abstraction meant output must increase to meet demands. Output> input = shortage

Question 6

What does ploughing do?

Answer 6

Reaks up the surface increasing infiltration

Question 7

When does water abstraction usually increase?

Answer 7

During dry season

Question 8

what is the albedo effect? what is it an example of?

Answer 8

the process of solar energy being reflected back into space from light surfaces

this is decreasing due to global warming

rising sea levels

increasing the amount of dark surface on earth

so albedo effect is decreasing

this is an example of positive feedback