Water distribution
What percent of Earths was is freshwater?
about 3%
What do we call how clear or cloudy water looks?
turbidity
What mainly causes surface ocean currents?
wind
Pollution that comes from one exact place is called what?
point-source pollution
What’s it called when water turns from liquid to gas?
evaporation
where is most of earths freshwater stored
in glaciers and Ice
What chemical in fertilizers can pollute water?
nitrates
What kind of current carries warm water away from the equator?
surface currents
What happens when fertilizer runoff causes too many nutrients in a lake?
eutrophication(causes algae blooms)
what process forms clouds?
condensation
what kind of water makes up most of earths water?
Saltwater
What do scientists test for to check if water has harmful bacteria?
E.coli
What’s the name of the process where cold, nutrient-rich water rises to the surface?
upwelling
What kind of waste often clogs up storm drains and harms ocean life?
trash andn plastic as well as litter
Rain, snow, and hail are all types of what?
precipitation
where is most of our liquid freshwater found?
in Aquifers
What happens when water is too cloudy?
Sunlight can’t get through, so plants can’t do photosynthesis.
What do ocean currents help control on Earth?
Climate and temperatures
What can happen if we pump out too much groundwater?
wells can dry up
What happens when water soaks into the ground?
infiltration
Only a tiny percentage of Earth’s freshwater is accessible for human use. Name two specific reasons why the rest of freshwater isn’t easily available.
Most of it is frozen in ice caps/glaciers, and the rest is too deep underground or trapped in soil.
If a river has low pH, high turbidity, and high nitrate levels, what kinds of organisms are most at risk and why?
Fish and aquatic insects, because low pH can damage gills, turbidity blocks sunlight, and nitrates cause oxygen levels to drop from algae overgrowth
Explain how changes in ocean currents can affect weather patterns in places far from the ocean, like the middle of the U.S.
Ocean currents move heat around the globe. If currents change, they can shift storm paths or cause droughts or floods in inland areas.
A city uses lots of concrete and has few trees. During heavy rain, what chain of events could lead to polluted water reaching a nearby lake?
Rain can't soak into the ground → runs off streets → picks up oil/trash → flows into storm drains → ends up in the lake without being filtered.
Describe a full journey of a water droplet that starts in the ocean and ends in a plant leaf, naming at least four major steps in the cycle.
Evaporation from ocean → condensation into a cloud → precipitation as rain → infiltration into soil → absorbed by plant roots → ends in a leaf