MIDTERM - PPT 2 Flashcards
an inorganic compound with the chemical formula H₂O. It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, and it is the main constituent of Earth’s hydrosphere
Water
Water in a Human Body by age?
Adult male ?
Adult female ?
Children ?
Infant ?
Male: 60%
Female: 55%
Children: 65%
Infant: 75%
WHy is access to water a GLOBAL HEALTH ISSUE ?
because lack of water that is safe for drinking and sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness.
Why is water an ECONOMIC ISSUE ?
Because it is vital for reducing poverty and producing food and energy.
Why is water an ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE ?
because excessive withdrawal of water from rivers and aquifers and pollution of water result in:
* lower water tables
* lower river flows
* shrinking lakes
* losses of wetlands
* declining water quality
* declining fish populations
* species extinctions
* degradation of ecosystem services provided by aquatic systems
Major Categories of Water Pollutants
- Organic pollutants
- Micro-organism
- Nutrients
- Suspended Solids and Sediments
- Inorganic Pollutants
- Thermal Pollution
- Radioactive pollutants
Called the zone of saturation, these spaces are filled with water.
Groundwater
The top of this groundwater zone is the ____. It falls in dry weather, or when we remove groundwater faster than nature can replenish it, and it rises in wet weather.
water table
underground caverns and porous layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock through which groundwater flows.
Aquifers
the freshwater from precipitation and snowmelt that flows across the earth’s land surface and into rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, estuaries, and ultimately to the oceans.
Surface Waters
It is the Precipitation that does not infiltrate the ground or return to the atmosphere by evaporation
surface runoff
The land from which surface water drains into
watershed or drainaige basin
