Lesson Plans

• 1) Slides 4-11, Case Study Section 1

• 2) Case Study Section 2 and 3

• 3) Global circulation stations

• 4) Finish Notes on water

• 5) Water Diversions Lab

• 6) Quiz on Water Notes, Conservation, and Case Studies

• 7) DO Lab

• ground water

• aquifers

• wells

• artesian wells

• watersheds

Vocabulary

Water is a unique liquid:- life is impossible without it

- water has a high capacity to absorb and store heat

- it is a good liquid solvent

- natural water sources are slightly acidic, so it can dissolve a great variety of compounds

- it has a high surface tension

- its solid form is lighter than its liquid form (water expands by about 8% as it freezes)

- it is transparent to sunlight yet filters out harmful UV rays from aquatic systems

The Hydrologic Cycle:

•The main process of the cycle is the global transfer of water from the atmosphere, to the land and oceans, and back to the atmosphere again. •Oceans contain 97% of the world’s water supplyIce Caps, and Glaciers contain a further 2%

•So here is 99% of the world’s water, that is unusable by people (salinity, or inaccessibility).

•Only 0.001% of the world’s water supply is ever in the atmosphere at any one time. Yet with a 9 day residence time, this is the water that produces the entire world fresh water supply.

• Aquifers: Geologic formation that contains water in quantities sufficient to support a well or spring

Surface and Groundwater issues

• If pollution enters an aquifer, the aquifer is no longer a place for safe drinking water

• Movement is slow

• When removal exceeds recharge rate the land sinks (subsidence) – leading to sinkholes and saltwater intrusion

• Region where water saturated soil meets water unsaturated soil is the water table

Agricultural, Industrial, and Domestic Use

• 70% is used for agriculture– Depends on the national wealth, climate, and

degree of industrialization– Drip irrigation is the most efficient

• Industry uses about 25%– 75% in Europe to 5% in developing

• Domestic use varies

Ocean Current

Oceanic Temperature Change

• Reasons– Slowing of ocean circulation that transports

warm water to the North Atlantic– Large reductions in Greenland and West

Antarctic ice sheets– Accelerated global warming – Decrease in upwellings– Releases of terrestrial carbon from permafrost

and methane from hydrates in coastal sediments

Upwellings and Elkman Transport spiral

Global Problems

• Water shortages– Useage rate is twice as fast aspopulation

growth rate– Due to weather that reduces rainfall, rivers

changing course, flooding contaiminating supply, competition for resources, overgrazing,erosion, and pollution

Global Problems Continued…

• Rising sea level– Thermal expansion

• Increasing the distance between neighboring water molecules, increases with temperature

– Melting of ice caps and glaciers• Melting ice on land increase sea level directly• Melting ice on water changes temperature

FloodingFloodplain- river and the flatland adjacent to it.In natural rivers the water flows over the riverbanks and onto the floodplain every year or so.

This natural process has many benefits for the environment:

-water nutrients are stored on the floodplain.

-deposits on the floodplain contribute to nutrient rich soil.

-wetlands on the floodplain provide an important habitat for many birds, animals, plants, and other living things

-the flood plain acts as a natural greenbelt that is distinctly different from adjacent environments and produces environmental diversity.

•Flooding is perhaps the most universal natural hazard in the world, both the frequency and the severity of flooding of streams are increase by urbanization.

•The preferable and most environmentally sound adjustment to flooding is land-use planning that avoids building on floodplains.