Human impact
This natural process keeps Earth warm enough for life, but human activity is making it "too" effective
Greenhouse Effect
When water heats up and turns into a gas to go up into the sky
Evaporation
The land area where all rain runs into one big river.
River Basin
A measure of how much salt is in the water.
Salinity
If you can't see your feet when you stand in a lake, the water is too...
Muddy or Dirty
Burning these things is the primary human cause of increased atmospheric
fossil fuels
Water that stays in the cracks and spaces deep under the dirt
Groundwater
Water that is part-salty and part-fresh, found where rivers meet the sea.
Brackish water
Top-layer currents that are pushed across the ocean by the wind.
Surface Currents
This is the stuff people throw away that ends up floating in our rivers.
Trash or Litter
When we cut down large forests, there are fewer trees to soak up what.
CO2
This is when plants "sweat" water vapor out of their leaves and into the air.
Transpiration
Water always moves from high land to low land because of this force.
Gravity
This brings "food" (nutrients) for fish from the deep ocean up to the top.
Upwelling
This is what we call it when chemicals or oil make the water unsafe to drink
Pollution
As Earth gets hotter, it can cause more of these events, like bigger hurricanes and longer droughts
Extreme Weather
Most of the fresh water on the planet is stuck here in giant ice cubes
Glaciers
This is the final place where all the water in a river basin usually ends up.
Ocean or a Large Lake
Cold, salty water does this in the ocean because it is heavy
Sinks
If the water is healthy, you will see plenty of these swimming around in it
Fish or Bugs
This is the term for the slow rise in the average temperature of the whole planet
Global Warming
This is the name for the underground "container" of rock that holds lots of water for us to use
Aquifer
These are the sides of a river; having plants here stops the dirt from washing away
River Banks
Ocean currents move heat around the world, which helps decide what this is like
Weather/Climate
This is the best way to help out if you see trash on a river bank
Pick it up or Clean it up