Natural Reasons For Changes To The Water Cycle Flashcards
What are the main five reasons for changes to the water cycle?
Seasonal changes
Storm events
Droughts
El Niño and La Niña
Cryospheric processes
How does seasonal changes effect the water cycle?
Higher temperatures means less precipitation and more evapotranspiration in the summer.
Reduced flows in the winter as water stored as ice.
Reduced interception from autumn-winter as deciduous trees lose their leaves.
Increased evapotranspiration in the summer as deciduous trees have their leaves and there’s higher temperatures.
How does storm events effect the water cycle?
Sudden increase in rainfall
Increases flooding
Replenishment in water soil storage
Increased surface runoff as soil is over saturated
Unlikely to cause long term change
How does droughts effect the water cycle?
Major stores of water depleted
Flows of water decrease
Can be a long term change
Becoming more common due to climate change
How does El Niño and La Niña effect the water cycle?
El niño is 2-7 years warm temperatures.
La niña is 2-7 years cold temperatures.
Both in predictable ways.
Climate change is increasing the probability of El niños in the future.
Warm and cold air rise or sink?
Warm air rises
Cold air sinks
How does cryospheric processes effect the water cycle?
Through the process of accumulation glaciers and ice caps store lots of freshwater.
But the store sizes are shrinking.
Melting.
Causing sea levels to rise.
If all the glaciers and ice caps were to melt what would sea levels rise by?
600 metres
