Water and Carbon Cycles: The water cycle Flashcards
Define aquifer:
A permeable or porous rock which stores water
Define convectional precipiation:
Solar radiation heats the air above the ground causing it to rise, cool and condense forming precipitation.
Define desalination plant:
The conversion of seawater to freshwater, suitable for human consumption.
Define economic water scarcity:
When water resources are available but insufficient economic wealth limits access to it.
Define energy pathway:
The movement of energy from its extraction or source, through pipes, freight logistics or cabling.
Define energy players:
Key companies and individuals who own, distribute and sell energy and energy sources.
Define global hydrological cycle:
The continuous transfer of water between land, atmosphere and the oceans (closed system)
Define inorganic carbon:
Carbon stored in carbonated rocks.
Define meteorological drought:
When long term precipitation trends are below average
Define percolation:
Water moving from the ground/soil into porous rock or rock fractures.
Define physical water scarcity:
A physical lack of available freshwater which cannot meet demand.
Define phytoplankton:
Small organisms that rely on photosynthesis to survive, so intake carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Define relief precipitation:
Precipitation caused when air masses are forced to rise over high land, determined by the relief of the land
Define river regime:
The pattern of river discharge over a year
Define smart irrigation:
Providing cops with a water supply less than optimal, to make crops resistant to water shortages.
Define storm hydrograph:
Variation of river discharge over a short period of time.
Define sublimation:
The change of state of water from solid to gas, without being a liquid.
Define through flow:
Water moving horizontal through the soil, due to gravity
Define tipping point:
A critical threshold where any changes to a system after the threshold are irreversible.
Define water budget:
The annual balance between inputs and outputs within a system
Define water sharing treaty:
International agreements for trans boundary sources.
Define watershed:
The boundary between neighbouring drainage basins.
What is atmospheric water?
Water found in the atmosphere.
What is cryospheric water?
The water locked up on the Earth’s surface as ice.
