Who's the boss? The real boss of the water cycle doesn't even live here on Earth. The sun is what makes the water cycle go 'round. The sun provides what almost everything on Earth needs to go: heat energy.
• Water Science School HOME • The Water Cycle •
Water cycle components » Atmosphere · Condensation · Evaporation · Evapotranspiration · Freshwater lakes and rivers · Groundwater flow · Groundwater storage · Ice and snow · Infiltration · Oceans · Precipitation · Snowmelt · Springs · Streamflow · Sublimation · Surface runoff
The sun is so big that even at over 90 million miles you can feel its heat. The sun's energy affects water at its smallest level - the molecular level. Liquid water contains water molecules stuck together. The energy from the sun can break apart these tightly-held molecules into much smaller sets of water molecules, which results in an invisible gas of tiny water vapor particles. This process allows liquid water to evaporate into water vapor, which is the main way water gets from the land surface and oceans back into the sky.
The sun’s energy moves water around the Earth. Different parts of the world (and even your neighborhood) are heated to different levels by the sun, and unequal heating and cooling of parts of the landscape cause air to move around from here to there which is what we call the wind. Clouds and the weather change due to wind patterns and all this mixing up and moving is an important part of the water cycle.
Even in a dry desert environment where the sun feels like it's beating down, the water cycle is taking place. The Sahara Desert might come to mind when we mention desert, but Antarctica is even more of a desert, receiving less precipitation than the Sahara does! The inner regions of Antarctica get only about 2 inches of precipitation per year. The winds here blow up snow from the land and put it into the atmosphere, which is part of the water cycle. The sun causes sublimation to occur, which causes snow to evaporate directly into water vapor gas.
Who's the boss? The real boss of the water cycle doesn't even live here on Earth. The sun is what makes the water cycle go 'round. The sun provides what almost everything on Earth needs to go: heat energy.
• Water Science School HOME • The Water Cycle •
Water cycle components » Atmosphere · Condensation · Evaporation · Evapotranspiration · Freshwater lakes and rivers · Groundwater flow · Groundwater storage · Ice and snow · Infiltration · Oceans · Precipitation · Snowmelt · Springs · Streamflow · Sublimation · Surface runoff
The sun is so big that even at over 90 million miles you can feel its heat. The sun's energy affects water at its smallest level - the molecular level. Liquid water contains water molecules stuck together. The energy from the sun can break apart these tightly-held molecules into much smaller sets of water molecules, which results in an invisible gas of tiny water vapor particles. This process allows liquid water to evaporate into water vapor, which is the main way water gets from the land surface and oceans back into the sky.
The sun’s energy moves water around the Earth. Different parts of the world (and even your neighborhood) are heated to different levels by the sun, and unequal heating and cooling of parts of the landscape cause air to move around from here to there which is what we call the wind. Clouds and the weather change due to wind patterns and all this mixing up and moving is an important part of the water cycle.
Even in a dry desert environment where the sun feels like it's beating down, the water cycle is taking place. The Sahara Desert might come to mind when we mention desert, but Antarctica is even more of a desert, receiving less precipitation than the Sahara does! The inner regions of Antarctica get only about 2 inches of precipitation per year. The winds here blow up snow from the land and put it into the atmosphere, which is part of the water cycle. The sun causes sublimation to occur, which causes snow to evaporate directly into water vapor gas.