BIO 220 W7 Discussion Question 2
BIO 220 W7 Discussion Question 2
Obtain a water quality report from your local municipality. If you are unable to locate a recent report from your municipality, use a report from a neighboring municipality. Post a short description of what you found. What are your thoughts about your tap water after reading the report you obtained? If you were in charge of your local municipality, and the report indicate organic impurities within the water supply, what technique(s) for water management (water pollution control, remediation, or water legislation) would you employ to address this problem? Predict how the application of the technique(s) would affect your daily life?
he hydrological cycle of the earth is the sum total of all processes in which water moves from the land and ocean surface to the atmosphere and back in form of precipitation. The hydrological cycle is dependent on various factors and is equally affected by oceans and land surfaces. In the case of the land surface, vegetation plays a vital role in the maintenance of the hydrologic budget
(Pielke and Niyogi, 2009). The presence of vegetation increases the capacity of the land surface to retain moisture. Precipitation is then intercepted by plants and directly evaporated when captured by the canopy. The plants themselves transpire and aid in the creation of a major amount of water vapor through evapotranspiration processes. The surface runoff, in the case of bare ground, is much greater than in vegetated lands. As plants dominate the processes of energy, water vapor, and carbon exchange, their presence is critical to the functioning of the hydrological cycle.
The concept of hydrological cycle is elegantly simple. But, its importance in the functioning of the geological and biological Earth is profound, transcending water itself. It plays an overarching role in the cycling of solar energy, sediments, and chemical elements vital for the sustenance of life. Although it is clear that contemporary ecosystems reflect an evolutionary adaptation to the delicate linkages that exist among the various components of the hydrological cycle, it is also apparent that evolving life must have influenced the evolution of the hydrological cycle over geological time. Life, it appears, is simultaneously a product of the hydrological cycle and its cause.
The concept of the hydrological cycle is quite simple. But, its importance to life on earth is profound. The hydrological cycle plays an overarching role in the cycling of solar energy, sediments, and chemical elements vital for life. Although it is clear that contemporary ecosystems reflect an evolutionary adaptation to the delicate linkages that exist among the various components of the hydrological cycle, it is also apparent that evolving life has affected the evolution of the hydrological cycle over geological time. Life, it appears, is simultaneously a product of the hydrological cycle and a factor causing changes in the cycle.