The Water Cycle Flashcards

Question

Physical factors affecting drought: Soil moisture

Answer 1

When there is moisture in the soil evapouration means that precipitation occurs this prevents drought. When there is no moisture warm air rises without moisture and no rainfall occurs. As warm air rises air rushes to fill the gap this can can erode the soil.

Answer 2

Higher temperatures lead to higher evapouration. Water vapour is moved elsewhere by atmospheric circulation.

Answer 3

When there is moisture in the atmosphere, we get rain as air cools and condenses into clouds.

Answer 4

This means that groundwater supplies are not recharged and therefore less water is reaching rivers leading to a hydrological drought.

Answer 5

Normal year: Wind blows across Pacific east to west. This drags all the warm water over towards Australia. Warm water evaporates, cools and condenses and rains a lot over the Western Pacific By moving all the warm water west, there is room for cold water from the deep to replace the warm water in the Eastern Pacific. El Nino: Winds that are blowing from east to west start to become weaker or even reverse This means that warm water that was being pushed to the west now heads back east. This means that the central Pacific is now warmest, and thus creates large rainclouds. This means the rain has been moved away from Australia (and the western Pacific) and instead air descends on this region- creating dry conditions and possibly drought.

Answer 6

Low variable rainfall because the climate is dominated by the sub-tropic high pressure belt of the Southern Hemisphere Most Australian droughts are related to El Nino ‘Big dry’ in 2006 is thought to have been associated with climate change leading to a trend of warmer, drier climate for south-eastern Australia

Answer 7

2006 Affected more than half of farmlands especially in the Murray- Darling Basin which provides 50% of the nations agricultural outputs Disastrous effects on Australia’s exports

Answer 8

South of Australia relies on River Murray for 40% of its drinking water. In recent years it has been over-extracted so much that water no longer flows to the mouth. Resources have been extracted for agricultural, industrial and urban use.

Answer 9

Central Marsh of Iraq Explains Al-Asadi “The town was like Venice. It had more than 1,200 islands, and between each island, there was water and natural canals.” At their height, these wetlands sustained up to half a million people: Marsh Arabs who relied on buffalo breeding, fishing, hunting, and a few crops. Their lifestyle resembled that of the Sumerians who first settled the marshes 6,000 years ago. But all that has vanished in the intervening years. Saddam Hussein perceived a threat in the Marsh Arabs, accusing them of sheltering Shi’ite rebels. He ordered them all to leave, and built roads into the marshes so that his soldiers could find and expel any who remained. In 1993, he dealt the crowning blow, diverting the water of the Tigris River away from the marshes, into a massive canal called the Glory River. The Central Marsh was completely dehydrated. A few years after the fall of Saddam, the land around the Glory River also dried up.

Answer 10

After the dictator’s fall, however, locals began to return. With the help of a bulldozer hired by Nature Iraq for about $350, they broke down the main embankment that Saddam had built, and water returned to the Central Marsh. It wasn’t quite the same, however. Since pre-Saddam times, the quality of the water had drastically worsened; salinity levels reach 4,000 parts per million (ppm) now, says Jassim, compared to 200 ppm during the 1960s. The current level of salinization makes it difficult to breed buffalo, and stunts the growth of the reeds.

Answer 11

Flooding that occurs after the ground has become saturated from heavy rain

Answer 12

Flooding that occurs when intense rain has insufficient time to infiltrate, so flows overland

Answer 13

Intense rainfall Snowmelt Tropical storm Tidal surge (up a river) Dam failure

Answer 14

Steep/slope angle Soil thickness Deforestation

Answer 15

Nature of drainage basin Intense precipitation in ground baked areas (areas that are hard from the sun) Intense rainfall reduces infiltration capacity Climatic hazards (tropical storms) Rapid snow melt Coastal influences Climatological

Answer 16

Enhanced climatic hazards due to humans catalyses physical processes Deforestation Urbanisation Land management techniques/agriculture

Answer 17

2007 Cost of £3.2 billion 13 people died 48,000 homes affected Environment Agency is warning that the average annual cost of flood damage could rise by 60% by 2035, unless funding for defences is doubled to £1bn a year by then to protect against climate change. 350,000 people in Gloucestershire were left without tap water after the water treatment works was flooded. 1 in 4 residents from the worst affected areas reported to have suffered significant mental health problems (e.g. depression requiring medication).

Answer 18

River flows, concluding they would most probably decline by 8.7% by 2060. That’s a loss of 1,300,000 acre-feet, the entire annual capacity of the canal diverting water to Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties. Now we have confirmation from Reclamation that whatever water is left in the Colorado River won’t go as far. Hotter temperatures will drive an increase in water demand. The average projected increase in water use, based solely on temperature increases, is 500,000 acre-feet.

Answer 19

Currently, permafrost covers about nearly 5.8 million square miles, and scientists found as much as 2.5 million square miles of that could thawin a 2 degree Celsius scenario. The new research was published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change. Permafrost contains vast amounts of carbon in the form of plants that died since the last ice age and have remained frozen rather than decomposing. When permafrost thaws, this long-trapped carbon is released into the atmosphere, further propelling future warming. A 2015 study estimated that the thawing permafrost could release up to 92 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere by the century's end.

Answer 20

- 1.8 billion people lack clean water - Every 90 seconds a child dies from a water-borne virus - Half of the worlds rivers and lakes are polluted - Half of rivers no longer flow all year round

Answer 21

Water stress (below 1,700 m³ per person) and water scarcity (below 1000 m³ per person).

Answer 22

Climate Discharge level Coastal storm surges and rising sea levels Annual and seasonal precipitation distribution Topography Snowfall and glaciers Pollution of groundwater reserves Geology

Answer 23

Industrial waste dumped in river Over abstraction from groundwater sources for domestic, agriculture and industry Heavy metal toxins from mining Untreated sewage causing water-borne diseases Chemical fertilisers causing eutrophication (excessive growth e.g algae) leading to hypoxia (insufficient oxygen)

Answer 24

Currently, more than 12 million persons lack drinkable water, especially in rural areas. Water pollution is due to the discharge of domestic, industrial, agricultural and mining residues. Ninety million Mexicans, despite having the infrastructure to receive drinkable water, need to filter their water through domestic purifying systems or buy it at a very high costs from private companies, since purifying plants and distribution networks provided by the government or the individual storage systems do not function properly, thus polluting the vital liquid before reaching the final consumer Turning drinkable water into a PRIVATE GOOD

Answer 25

Designed to control flooding in Yangtze, improve water supply by regulating river flow, generate HEP 632km^2 have been flooded to form reservoir 1.3 million people have been relocated from 1500 villages. Decomposing vegetation in the resevoir produce methane which is released when water passes through HEP turbines.

Answer 26

Beijing has 35% of China's population but only 7% of its water. Three routes will take water from the Yangtze to northern China, a western route to the Yellow River, Eastern route via a series of lakes and a central route. Cost $70 million due to be completed by 2050. Will reduce water shortages and abstraction of groundwater however, it risks draining too much from Southern China.

Answer 27

Five plants were opened by 2013 taking water directly from the Mediterranean sea. Aims to provide 70% of Israel's domestic water supplies by 2020. Produces up to 600 tonnes of potable water per hour.

Answer 28

Kitayita village has 3,000 people who lack access to safe water. Local builders have been trained in the construction of rainwater harvesting jars which have the capacity of 1,500 litres which provide a stable source of water for many years.

Answer 29

Using smart irrigation, where drip systems allow water to drip slowly to plants' roots through a system of valves and pipes - reducing wastage and evaporation.

Answer 30

Traditionally Singapore has been provided 80% of its water from Malaysia by 2010 this halved. Subsidies protect the poorest citizens from expensive water. Per capita water consumption fell from 165 litres per day in 2000 to 150 in 2015 through metering the water supply and educating the public.

Answer 31

11 countries compete for the Nile's water. The Nile is susceptible to change due to El Nino and El Nina variations. Located in hot arid areas: lots of evaporation. Over 300 million people live within the Nile basin and this is expected to double by 2030.

Answer 32

Between Egypt and the UK granted significant water allocations to Egypt and Sudan making NO allowances for other Nile state countries.

Answer 33

A process which promotes the co-ordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximise economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.

Answer 34

The river surrounds 7 US states and Mexico Provides drinking water for 50 million Americans The river has been in consistent drought since 2000

Answer 35

In 2012 - the US states divided up the shortages. The amount of water available determines supplies to each state. As a result California has reduced the amount it extracts by 20%. In 2012 an agreement called Minute 139 was signed between the US and Mexico which gives Mexico the right to store some of Colorado's river in Lake Mead. The IWRM prevents greedy upstream behaviour.

Answer 36

Fossil water and cryosphere losses

Answer 37

Warm moist air is pushed up as it reaches a mountain and this causes cloud formation and precipitation on one side of the mountain which causes a rain shadow effect on the other side of the mountain which there is less precipitation

Answer 38

Usually occurs in the UK during the summer when the sun heats the land this rising air creates convection currents warm air cools and condenses to form clouds the large cumulonimbus clouds can produce heavy rainfall.

Answer 39

Occurs when a warm front meets a cold front the heavier cold air sinks to the ground and the warm air rises above it. When the warm air rises, it cools and the cooler air forms clouds producing heavier rainfall.

Answer 40

Intense storms leading to flash flooding, unusually heavy or prolonged rainfall, extreme monsoonal rainfall and snowmelt

Answer 41

China has the world’s seond largest population and therefore requires a lot of resources including water and energy to sustain this. China has built many dams to generate hydroelectric power 1995 ‘The Mekong Agreement’ There are 430 dams along the entire Mekong 11 dams are in China. Travels through six countries: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Answer 42

75mm of rain fell in two hours. Is located in a steep valley called Valency Valley. Is located just after the confluence of the River Jordan and River Valency. Human causes: The sewage and drainage system was old and had a smaller capacity and deforestation of the valley sides to make way for agriculture.

Answer 43

A Coastal Climate Resilient infrastructure Project (2012) supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) aims to ´climate-proof´ the area. The project involves: -Improving road connections, raising embankments to 60cm above normal flood levels -Creating new market areas with sheds on raised platforms -Constructing 25 tropical cyclone shelters, taking account of sea level rise -Training in climate resistance and adaption measures

Answer 44

The hydrological cycle is a system of linked processes: inputs (precipitation patterns and types: orographic, frontal, convectional) flows (interception, infiltration, direct runoff, saturated overland flow, throughflow, percolation, groundwater flow) and outputs (evaporation, transpiration and channel flow).

Answer 45

Including intense storms leading to flash flooding, unusually heavy or prolonged rainfall, extreme monsoonal rainfall and snowmelt.

Answer 46

The causes of water insecurity are physical (climate variability, salt water encroachment at coast) as well as human (over abstraction from rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers, water contamination from agriculture, industrial water pollution).

Answer 47

Salinity intrusion has been a serious threat in the downstream areas of Kallada River for more than one and half decades, affecting the groundwater quality of Munroe Island.Physico-chemical analysis of ground water revealed that samples were unsuitable for drinking due to higher content of Na, Ca, and K. Microbiological analysis of island groundwater showed the presence of coliform and E. coli bacteria.

Answer 48

Coperation between all Nile countries they will need 1.5 Niles by 2050 to support demand there goal is to achieve water security, share substantial socioeconomic benefits and promote regional peace and security.

Answer 49

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Answer 50

China and Myanmar

Answer 51

The Convention is a unique legally binding instrument promoting the sustainable management of shared water resources, the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the prevention of conflicts, and the promotion of peace and regional integration. In 2003, the convention was amended to allow non-European countries to join.

Answer 52

2007 The new Franco-Swiss Genevese aquifer agreement is signed. The Genevese Aquifer extends over 19 kilometers underneath the southern extremity of Lake Geneva and the Rhône River across the border between France and Switzerland. Each user is entitled to a 20% extraction margin with respect to its reserved water volume. Extractions in excess of the 20% margin are to be reported to Geneva, permitting Geneva to take certain measures as needed.