water Flashcards

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1
Q

what is the global hydrological cycle driven by

A

by solar energy and gravitational potential energy

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2
Q

what percentage is all the worlds freshwater accessible to humans

A

1%

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3
Q

what are the inputs of the global hydrological cycle

A

-precipitation patterns and types (frontal, orographic and convectional)

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4
Q

what are the flows of the global hydrological cycle

A

-interception, infiltration, direct runoff, overland flow, throughflow, percolation, groundwater flow)

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5
Q

what are the outputs of the global hydrological cycle

A

evaporation, transpiration, channel flow

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6
Q

whats frontal rainfall

A

where a cold airmass reaches a warm airmass, the warm air is forced to rise over the denser cooler air, forming rain

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7
Q

whats orographic rainfall

A

where warmer, moist Atlantic air is forced to rise as it reaches uplands and then it cools, this produces heavy rain

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8
Q

whats convectional rainfall

A

typical in the UK summer, in high temps, the rainfall created is often intense and associated with electrical storms and thunder

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9
Q

what physical factors affect the inputs, outputs and flows of drainage basins

A

-climate (affects inputs and outputs)
-soils (affects flows e.g. soil moisture surplus)
-geology (affects flows)
-vegetation (affects flows)
-relief (affects flows)

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10
Q

what human factors affect drainage basins

A

-deforestation
-changing land use
-creating new water storage reservoirs
-abstracting water

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11
Q

How has deforestation disrupted the hydrological cycle

A

Deforestation= lowered humidity and rainfall.
Deforestation= reduces evapotranspiration and increases surface runoff

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12
Q

How does changing land use affect the hydrological cycle

A

Arable to pastoral= compaction of soil, other way around increases infiltration

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13
Q

What do water budgets show

A

Water budgets show the annual balance between inputs (precipitation) and outputs (evapotranspiration) and their impact on soil (soil moisture surplus or soil moisture recharge), water availability and are influenced by climate types (tropical, temperate or polar)

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14
Q

What do river regimes indicate?

A

River regimes indicate the annual variation of discharge of a river and result from the impact of climate, geology and soils.

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15
Q

What is the shape of a storm hydrograph impacted by?

A

Dependent on size, shape, drainage density, rock type, soil, relief, vegetation, land use and urbanisation

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16
Q

What is meteorological drought?

A

-a shortfall or deficiency in water over an extended period, usually at least a season

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17
Q

What is hydrological drought?

A

-reduced stream flow, lowered groundwater levels and reduced water stores

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18
Q

Is the Aral Sea hydrological or meteorological drought?

A

Its hydrological

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19
Q

Is the Sahel meteorological or hydrological?

A

Its meteorological

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20
Q

What has desertification in the sahel led to?

A
  1. Changing rainfall patterns
  2. Vegetation becomes stressed leading to bare soil
  3. Bare soil can be eroded by wind
  4. When rain does fall, it makes it difficult for soil to capture and store it
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21
Q

What did drought in Australia occur due to?

A

-occurred due to El Nino

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22
Q

What human factors can act as a positive feedback loop?

A

-population growth= pressure on land to grow more food
-overgrazing= destroys vegetation cover
-over cultivation= exhausts the soil and crops will not grow
-deforestation= trees cut down and soil health declines

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23
Q

How does drought affect forest ecosystems?

A

-responsible for a loss of infiltration, link to pinon pines, tree mortality increases, less resilience present

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24
Q

How does drought affect wetlands?

A

Water tables will decline. Wetlands act as temporary water stores and recharge aquifers

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25
Q

What are the human factors which can exacerbate flood risk?

A

-changing land use within the river catchment, mismanagement of rivers (channelisation, dams, river embankments) and using hard engineering systems.

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26
Q

How does climate change affect precipitation?

A

A warmer atmosphere has a greater water holding capacity. Areas of precipitation increase includes the tropic and high latitudes. -increased occurrence of drought in some areas

27
Q

What occurred in 2007 in the UK

A

A major flood event occurred due to rare abnormalities in large scale air currents. The national death toll reached 7. One in 5 homes in hull were affected.

28
Q

How are snowy areas impacted by climate change?

A

Surface storage may decrease due to climate change. Melting permafrost. Spring snowmelt starts earlier. More low flows (droughts) and more high flows (floods)-> increased severity.

29
Q

What are the problems with predicting climate change?

A

ENSO and climate change are difficult to distinguish from each other.

30
Q

Talk about the impact of drought in brazil

A

-drought due to high pressure systems. Reduced rainfall due to less evaporation so less reliance on HEP. Water rationing for 4 million people. Illegal wells were drilled= subsidence and contaminated water. Chain reaction due to drought. Affected plantal region.

31
Q

Talk about the impact of drought on the plantal region in Brazil

A

-flooding occurs in 80% of the plantal. Animals depend on permanent wetness in this area. Agricultural fires intensified the drought.

32
Q

define water stress

A

when there is below1,700m^3 per person

33
Q

define water scarcity

A

when there is less than 1000m^3 per person

34
Q

define absolute scarcity

A

when there is less than 500m^3 per day

35
Q

what are two large reasons why surface water is becoming more scarce

A

due to…

-population growth
-economic development

36
Q

what are the physical causes of water availability or vulnerability

A
  • the regions climate (annual precipitation)

-water being moved and distributed by a drainage network

-evaporation and transpiration

-discharge into the sea

-saltwater encroachment at the coast

37
Q

what are the human causes of water availability or vulnerability

A

-contamination of water by agricultural, industrial and domestic pollution.

-over-abstraction from rivers, lakes and aquifers and the acute need to replenish these dwindling stores

-exacerbated by global warming and climate change

38
Q

what is rising demand for water driven by?

A

rising demand for water is driven by:

-population growth
-economic development
-rising living standards

39
Q

what are the 3 main pressures increasing risk of water insecurity?

A
  1. diminishing supply
    (due to climate change, deteriorating quality from pollution, impact of competing users upstream and downstream)

2.rising demands
(population growth, economic development)

3.competing demands from users[within a basin]
(international issues, upstream vs downstream, HEP vs Irrigation)

40
Q

what is physical scarcity and how much of the world population have a physical scarcity

A

physical scarcity: when more than 75% of a country or regions blue water (accessible) flows are being used. Applies to 25% of the population (lack of precipitation)

41
Q

what is economic scarcity

A

economic scarcity: occurs when the use of blue water resources is limited by a lack of capital, technology and good governance. Seen in Africa due to poverty thus lack of technology.

In the developed world, people pay for their own water however in the developing world, its too costly so charities such as water aid provide invaluable help

42
Q

agriculture dominates water use, how much of the worlds land is under full irrigation?

A

20% of the worlds land is under full irrigation

43
Q

how is water used in industry and energy and how does it affect water supply

A

just over 20% of all freshwater withdrawals worldwide are for industrial and energy production. Water pollution is a major problem associated with industrial use of water. Growth of bio fuels uses lots of water.

44
Q

how does domestic use affect water supply

A

inadequate water supply will encourage people to over-exploit what water resources there are= prolonged periods of drought and desertification could occur

45
Q

what are the conflicts due to the Nile river

A

-11 countries compete for its water
-population is continually increasing.
-the Nile is needed for growing crops, domestic consumption and dams are built, this leaves the downstream of Egypt deprived of H2O.

46
Q

what are the local stakeholders in the Nile conflict

A

-farmers
-industrialists (ownership of industries)
-households

47
Q

what are the international stakeholders in the Nile conflict

A

-governments and users of trans boundary water resources
-UN agencies may have to be called

48
Q

what type of players usually opt for hard engineering schemes to manage water supply

A

economic players such as businesses opt for hard engineering schemes

49
Q

what type of players usually opt for sustainable schemes to manage water supply

A

environmental players such as conservation organisations

50
Q

what do hard engineering schemes often require a lot of

A

hard engineering schemes often require lots of technology and capital e.g. mega dams and desalination projects

51
Q

one type of hard engineering scheme to manage water supplies is water transfer, what is water transfer (cost benefit analysis)

A

water transfer involves drainage from one basin to another e.g. Chinas South, North transfer project

the issues are that the source area experiences low flow and can become polluted. Climate change also encourages water scarcity.

The receiving areas has more of an availability of water however this leads to a higher consumption of water.

More water can lead to more development as water can aid golf courses but also promotes unsustainable irrigated farming and nitrate eutrophication, salination and ecosystem destruction.

52
Q

one type of hard engineering scheme to manage water supplies is mega dams, what are mega dams (cost benefit analysis)

A

Impedes river flow. Seen in the Colorado river, the Nile and the Yangtze.

Capital cost of dams= immense

High evaporation losses from the water surface, the disruption of the downstream transport of slit and the displacement of people

53
Q

one type of hard engineering scheme to manage water supplies is desalination (cost benefit analysis)

A

desalination is the process by which dissolved solids in the sea are partially or completely removed to make it suitable for human use.

Its expensive and requires advanced technology and energy.

However, if the price of freshwater rises, its suitable.

Its been implemented by middle eastern states e.g. Israel. Its hard engineering but also sustainable but does have an ecological impact on marine life

54
Q

what are the main aims of sustainable water management of supplies

A

-minimise wastage and pollution of water resources

-ensure that there is access to safe water for all people at an affordable price

-take into account the views of all water users

-guarantee equitable distribution of water within countries and between countries

55
Q

what are the three types of hard engineering shemes to manage water supplies

A

-water transfer
-mega dams
-desalination

56
Q

what are the five types of sustainable schemes to manage water supplies

A

-smart irrigation
-hydroponics
-rainwater harvesting
-filtration technology
-restoration

57
Q

one type of sustainable scheme to manage water supplies is smart irrigation, what is smart irrigation

A

-smart irrigation is using modern automated spray technology and advanced drip irrigation systems.

58
Q

one type of sustainable scheme to manage water supplies is hydroponics, what is hydroponics

A

growing crops in greenhouses that are CO2 and temp controlled in shallow trays where they are dripped nutrients and water, there is no soil

59
Q

one type of sustainable scheme to manage water supplies is rainwater harvesting, what is rainwater harvesting

A

where people collect the rain on the roof of dwellings and store it in butts for various domestic use e.g. flushing a toilet.

60
Q

one type of sustainable scheme to manage water supplies is filtration technology, what is filtration technology

A

this is now so effective that there is little dirty water that cannot be physically purified and recycled.

61
Q

one type of sustainable scheme to manage water supplies is restoration, what is restoration

A

restoration is where damaged rivers, lakes and wetlands are restored/ renewed so that they can play their full and proper part in the hydrological cycle

62
Q

what are the current circumstances in Singapore in terms of water

A

few natural water resources, a thriving economy, a high standard of living and high per capita consumption of water.

water management is their top priority and Singapore has adopted a holistic approach to save water

63
Q

what are the three strategies that are part of Singapore’s holistic approach to ensure water security

A
  1. Collect every drop of water
  2. re-use water endlessly (grey water)
  3. Desalination
64
Q

where does Singapore get its water supplies from

A

-two desalination projects meet 25% of demand

-Singapore imports water from Malaysia