|
|
The Water Cycle |
|
The water cycle is
the continuous movement of water from oceans or lakes to air and land, then back to the
lake or ocean in a cyclic pattern.
The sun heats the Earth's surface water which causes it to evaporate. The water vapor rises into the Earth's atmosphere where it cools and condenses into liquid droplets. The droplets combine and grow until they become too heavy and fall to the Earth as precipitation. Water is temproatily stored in lakes, glaciers, underground or in living organisms. The water can move from these places by streams and rivers, return to the ocean, is used by plants or animals or can be evaporated directly back into the atmosphere. |
