Chapter 5.2 Flashcards
(12 cards)
What is the water cycle?
The water cycle is often reffered to a closed system because the same water has been circulating the Earth from its earliest days. Human interact with the water cycle in many ways.
What are Human impacts affecting the water cycle?
Building structures, storing water, hydro electricity and creating artificial precipitation.
What is precipitation?
Precipitation is any form of moisture that reaches the earth’s surface from the atsmophere.
What is rain?
Rain occurs when growing cloud droplets become to heavy to remain in the cloud and, as a result they fall towards the Earth’s surface.
What is coalescence?
Coalescence is the merging of the smallest cloud droplets to create larger droplets of water.
What is hail?
Hail is made up of hailstones, or large frozen raindrops. s the ice pellets once again fall through the could, another layer of ice is added and the hailstone grows even larger.
What is dew?
Water vapour in the air will form droplets known as dew. The temperature at which this occurs is called dew point.
What is snow?
Snowflakes originate as tiny crystals in cloud where the temperature is at or below freezing point (0 degrees). When the snowflake become heavy enough it falls towards Earth’s surface.
What is convectional rainfall?
Convectional rainfall occurs when the energy of the sun heats the Earth’s surface and causes water to evaporate.
Rainfall in Australia
The topography of the land, distance from the equator and the presence of the ocean all influence the location of rainfall in Australia.
What is Frontal Rainfall?
Frontal rainfall occurs when a cold and warm air mass meet. The point at which they meet is known as front.
What is orographic fall?
Orographic fall occurs when a moist body of air is forced to rise by mountain range. As the air rises it cools.
