Process Stages
This process involves the conversion of liquid water into water vapor.
What is evaporation?
This term describes water in a gaseous state.
What is water vapor?
This large body of saltwater covers the majority of Earth's surface.
What are the oceans?
This is the effect of the water cycle that supports life by providing necessary freshwater to the environment.
What is water supply?
Humans extract this resource from the ground for various uses, causing changes in the water cycle.
What is groundwater?
During this process, water vapor cools and changes back into liquid drops.
What is condensation?
The solid form of water, commonly seen during winter.
What is ice?
These bodies of water, which can be fresh or salt, are smaller than oceans and can also store water.
What are seas?
Water currents influenced by the water cycle significantly affect this global phenomenon.
What is climate?
This process can increase atmospheric water vapor levels due to fossil fuel combustion.
What is combustion?
This stage of the water cycle occurs when clouds become too heavy and release water.
What is precipitation?
This form of water falls from clouds as droplets.
What is rain?
This is a water source in the form of rivers feeding into oceans.
What is freshwater runoff?
The water cycle plays a role in shaping this physical environment aspect through erosion and deposition.
What are landforms?
This agricultural activity requires significant amounts of water, influencing the local water cycle.
What is irrigation?
This term describes the movement of water through the ground.
What is infiltration?
This is frozen precipitation that forms into flakes.
What is snow?
This large underground water reservoir plays a crucial part in groundwater storage.
What is an aquifer?
This natural disaster is a direct result of rapid water cycle processes involving excessive precipitation.
What is flooding?
This type of pollution can directly affect the quality of water found in the water cycle.
What is water pollution?
This process returns water from plants back into the atmosphere as vapor.
What is transpiration?
Liquid precipitation that falls from the sky during a storm.
What is rain?
These are the surfaces or structures, such as glaciers, that store freshwater for long periods.
What are ice caps?
Alterations in this cycle can contribute to drought conditions when precipitation is significantly reduced.
What is the hydrological cycle?
This construction activity by humans alters natural water flow, impacting ecosystems and the water cycle.
What is dam building?