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Water Cycle > Unit 3 Notes > Flashcards

Unit 3 Notes Flashcards

1
Q

What is a water deficit?

A

Experienced when an area lacks sufficient water to meet its’ needs.

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2
Q

What is a drought?

A

An extended period of low or absent rainfall relative to the expected average for a region.

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3
Q

What is the UK’s definition of a drought?

A

15 consecutive days with less than 0.2mm of rainfall.

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4
Q

What is Libya’s definition of a drought?

A

2 years with no rain.

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5
Q

What does warm air rising mean?

A

Low pressure - Air cools, condenses, and precipitation occurs.

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6
Q

What does cold air sinking mean?

A

Air warms, no condensation or precipitation occurs.

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7
Q

What is the case study for seasonal variation of precipitation?

A

The 1976 UK Drought.

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8
Q

What were the reasons for the 1976 Drought?

A

Jet stream was positioned further north than normal, high pressure system was located over the UK. UK had a dry winter before 1976 summer.

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9
Q

What were the economic and social impacts of the 1976 drought?

A

Harder to do daily tasks - people had to go to a stand pipe. Some businesses had to close due to the heat. Domestic water supply was limited to tankers and street pipes.

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10
Q

Which parts of the country were affected the least?

A

Northern parts of Scotland.

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11
Q

Which areas of the country were affected the most?

A

South of England and the Midlands - 55% of average rainfall. North of England - 75-85% of average rainfall.

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12
Q

What % of average rainfall did the UK, England, and Wales have as a result of the drought?

A

UK - 72%.
England - 64%.
Wales - 62%.

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13
Q

Which year had the peak average temperature between 1951-2007?

A

1976 - 25 degrees.

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14
Q

Which year had the lowest average temperature between 1951-2007?

A

1956 - 18.5 degrees.

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15
Q

Which year had the lowest number of days of rainfall from 1951-2007?

A

1976 - 8 days.

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16
Q

Which year had the highest number of days of rainfall from 1951-2007?

A

1987 - 43 days.

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17
Q

Which areas of Europe have the lowest drought frequency?

A

North West Europe, such as the UK, ROI, Germany.

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18
Q

Which areas of Europe have the highest drought frequency?

A

Eastern European countries, such as Hungary and Poland.

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19
Q

What is the case study of a megadrought?

A

Western USA.

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20
Q

What is a megadrought?

A

A severe drought, over a decade or longer, covering a wide area.

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21
Q

How much have temperatures increased by in the Western USA since 2000?

A

1.2 degrees.

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22
Q

Which other factors have made the temperature increase worse?

A

Climate change and weather patterns such as El Nino.

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23
Q

What are the impacts of the drought?

A

Increase in wildfires, water shortages, crop failure, food insecurity, reservoirs not refilling, water shortages cost California $3.8 Billion in Agricultural costs.

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24
Q

What are the human costs of water deficit?

A

Extracting 10x as much water in 2050 as we were in 1900. Population is predicted to be 5x as much as it was in 2050 than it was in 1900. Water use is increasing, as countries become wealthier, grow in affluence.

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25
Q

What is water scarcity?

A

The lack of available fresh water resources to meet demand.

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26
Q

What is water scarcity increased by?

A

Climate change, population growth, increased consumption, increased water withdrawal.

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27
Q

How much water does the average home use in a day?

A

300 litres.

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28
Q

Why is water use in homes so high?

A

Washing, toilet use, laundry, cleaning, food preparation.

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29
Q

What % of global freshwater is used in agriculture?

A

70%.

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30
Q

What is green water?

A

Precipitation that infiltrates into the soil.

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31
Q

What is blue water?

A

Water in rivers, lakes, and groundwater.

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32
Q

What is the second largest user of water?

A

Industry - Electricity generation - 19%.

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33
Q

What is virtual/indirect water?

A

Water used in the production of food and goods we consume.

34
Q

What is the water footprint?

A

A measurement of the amount of water that an individual consumes.

35
Q

What % of the water we consume is virtual water?

A

22%.

36
Q

What % of the water we consume is used in agriculture?

A

92%.

37
Q

What is an Aquifer?

A

A body of permeable rock which can contain and transmit fresh groundwater.

38
Q

Where does an unconfined aquifer lie?

A

Below the water table.

39
Q

Where does a confined aquifer lie?

A

Below a layer of impermeable rock or sediment.

40
Q

What happens if a well is drilled into a confined aquifer?

A

Water naturally rises up to the well due to high pressure.

41
Q

What happens if the rate of extraction is greater than the rate of recharge?

A

Water table drops, groundwater source will disappear.

42
Q

What happened to Egypt between 1970-2012?

A

The population of Egypt more than doubled from 38 million to 81 million.

43
Q

What happened to the rate of affluence during this time?

A

It increased during this time, as GDP was less than 820 Billion in 1970, and increased to $50 Billion by the early 1990’s.

44
Q

What is the case study for water consumption for agricultural exports?

A

Egypt.

45
Q

What is the case study for aquifer depletion and management?

A

The central valley aquifer.

46
Q

What is California currently experiencing?

A

A megadrought.

47
Q

Why is the megadrought in California problematic?

A

1/3 of the USA’s fresh food is produced here, and there is more pressure on the central valley aquifer, as 80% of California’s water use is in Central Valley.

48
Q

What % of all water supply does groundwater account for?

A

70%.

49
Q

What happens to California, as groundwater is pumped out?

A

Bands of clay within the ground contract, as they dry out.

50
Q

What is the first step of sinking ground in Central Valley?

A

Farmers drill wells through Corcoran clay layer in the deep aquifer.

51
Q

What is the second step of sinking ground in Central Valley?

A

Pumping reduces water pressure, causing loose clay particles to compose, and stack, causing healthy clay to collapse.

52
Q

How long would it take for the aquifer to naturally fill, if California stopped pumping ground water?

A

50 years.

53
Q

What does the pumping of groundwater cause?

A

Food price increases, job losses in farming.

54
Q

What is Artificial Recharge?

A

Capturing excess runoff during periods of heavy precipitation, diverting this water to recharge basins.

55
Q

Why do recharge basins have porous bases?

A

Allows captures water to percolate down to the aquifer.

56
Q

What is California’s artificial recharge strategy?

A

Identifies the most suitable places based on topography and precipitation.

57
Q

What is smart drip irrigation?

A

Supplies water to different areas, increases profitability of the field. 90% efficient, operates on soil.

58
Q

What is natural ground water recharge?

A

Aquifers being recharged naturally over time through precipitation, river bed seepage and flooding.

59
Q

When does the water table rise?

A

When the rate of percolation is greater than the rate of groundwater flow.

60
Q

What is the case study of natural groundwater recharge?

A

London.

61
Q

Which rock is located 60m below the surface of Central London?

A

Chalk.

62
Q

When does percolation into Chalk increase?

A

When there is precipitation to the North and South of London.

63
Q

When did industrial demand for water use start increasing?

A

In the 19th century, particularly from the growth of water intensive industries such as brewing and paper production.

64
Q

What did the growth in water demand lead to?

A

Groundwater level decline - Abstraction.

65
Q

When was there a dynamic equilibrium in the groundwater level in London?

A

Between the 1950’s to the 1960’s.

66
Q

What did De-Industrialisation mean for water demand in London?

A

A reduction in water demand, and the aquifer started recharging by 3m per year.

67
Q

What happened between 1900 and 1950 in London?

A

Groundwater level underneath Trafalgar Square dropped by around 30m.

68
Q

What happened to water level between 1950 and 1970?

A

There was fluctuation, but the level of groundwater was the same at the end of the period.

69
Q

What happened to water level between 1970 and 2010?

A

Groundwater level has risen by 45 metres, as industries are no longer extracting groundwater.

70
Q

What are the issues with rising groundwater in London?

A

The city’s underground structures are threatened, foundations of modern London were built in the 1940’s-60’s, when water levels were very low. Tube escalators could misalign, underground tunnels could leak, tall buildings could settle.

71
Q

How is London managing rising ground water?

A

50 Million litres of water per day are pumped out to avoid damage to communication cables.

72
Q

What is the case study of surface water extraction?

A

Aral Sea.

73
Q

What is the background of the Aral Sea?

A

Located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

74
Q

What was the extent of the sea in 1960, compared to now?

A

1960 - Fourth largest body of inland water, fed by two main rivers. 2014 - 10% of its’ original sea.

75
Q

Why did the Aral Sea begin to disappear?

A

The mayor sold ships at the bottom of the sea, the USA became rich because of cotton grown in the south, slave labour sold to the European textile industry, supply was cut off during the civil war.

76
Q

What had Russia done in the Aral Sea?

A

Conquered land in Central Asia, which had good conditions for growing cotton. Russia diverted rivers flowing into the Aral Sea, then Uzbekistan was the biggest exporter of Cotton.

77
Q

What did the Soviet government attempt to do in the Aral Sea?

A

Caused water levels to drop 20 metres between 1960 and 1980.

78
Q

What were the environmental impacts of the Aral Sea’s water supply reducing?

A

Tips of grass became salty, animals became ill. Over half of all flora and fauna gone. Water became more saline.

79
Q

What were the socio-economic impacts of the Aral Sea’s water supply reducing?

A

Fishing has stopped, people’s livelihoods taken away. Farmers who kept animals have had less income.

80
Q

What were the management solutions of the Aral sea drying up?

A

Dam was built, fish returned. Raised sea level again. National governments and world bank funded a dam.

Water Cycle (6 decks)

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