Water Cycle Pack A

Question 1

What three things greatly impact the water cycle?

Answer 1

• Population growth
• Increased affluence
• Climate change

Question 2

What are the main uses of water?

Answer 2

• Domestic
• Agriculture
• Industry

Question 3

In what general ways can humans affect the water cycle?

Question 4

What makes the water cycle a system?

Question 5

How does a simple drainage basin work?

Answer 5

It has inputs, outputs, processes, stores, equilibrium, feedback and tipping points

Question 6

How have humans changed precipitation?

Answer 6

• Cloud seeding in Boise, Idaho
• Particulates (often silver iodine) are release into the atmosphere
• Act as the hygroscopic nuclei that are required for rain and snow to occur as water vapour accumulates the particulates until they are heavy enough to fall
• Experiment was called SNOWIE
• Local farmer’s relied on melting snow from mountains as a water supply for irrigation but the increasing demand for water put pressure on existing stores
• Enlarges the snowpack during winter

Question 7

How have humans changed interception?

Answer 7

• Deforestation in Freetown, Sierra Leone
• 1,141 people were dead or missing after a mudslide in August 2017
• The result of a particularly intense rainy season
• The city has grown so the city limits have crept up onto the surrounding hills
• The Central Highlands have been deforested to leave exposed and weakened soil
• Infiltration rates decrease and direct overland flow increases without the vegetation to intercept rainfall
• There are shorter lag times and flooding
• There are no roots to stabilise the soil, increasing the chances of mudslides

Question 8

How have humans changed overland flow?

Answer 8

• Natural flood management in Pickering, Yorkshire
• Scheme called Slowing the Flow uses natural processes and features to manage river discharge
• Constructed low-level bunds (soil embankments)
• Planted more trees, especially along stream sides and in foodplain
• Restored woody debris dams and wetlands
• Increases interception and infiltration in upper parts of drainage
• Increases water storage in tributaries and improves river flow
• Holistic approach which is more sustainable

Question 9

How have humans changed infiltration and aquifers?