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- Transpiration
- Water Cycle
- Ted Floyd
Water is essential for all life on earth. About three billion years ago life began as small microscopic marine organisms. Nearly 300 million years ago primitive amphibians crawled out of their watery home on to dry land. Humans appeared about 1 million years ago. Since then our numbers have grown enormously and our way of life has had profound consequences for the water cycle, particularly in urban areas.
The Natural Water Cycle
The water cycle begins with water being evaporated by the sun mainly from
the sea, which becomes vapour and forms into clouds. Some of the
cloudy vapour blows inland where it falls as rain before eventually
flowing back to the sea.rain, hail, snow and fogs
interception and evaporation from plant surfaces
depression storage(puddles)
runoff
soil infiltration and percolation
transpiration and evaporation
water table and ground water
creeks, brooks, rivers and lakes
swamps, wetlands, billabongs and anabranches
oceans, seas, harbours, bays and gulfs
Where does the rain go?
native bush
urban area
In the bush most rain is transpired by plants back into the atmosphere.
Where we live in cities, most rain goes down the drain making bigger floods.
A large proportion of pollution occurs in flood waters.
interception by plant leaves 15% runoff 15% 90% transpiration and evaporation 60% 10% percolation to water table and ground water 10%