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The Hydrosphere The Hydrosphere • The hydrosphere is all of the Earth’s water – both fresh and salt. Water covers about 70% of the surface of the Earth. • Of this water on Earth – most of it (97.5%) is found as salt water. That means that only 2.5% of the Earth’s water is fresh water – the stuff we need to drink. • Of all the fresh water on Earth, 87.3% of it is contained in the polar ice caps and glaciers. Less than 1% of the Earth’s fresh water comes from lakes and surface sources. The Water Cycle • Water has an effect on the weather in all of its forms – solid, liquid and gas. • Water on Earth ends up in the atmosphere (as vapour) due to the heat energy of the sun. This can occur through… – Sublimation – Solid water into vapour. – Evaporation – Liquid water into vapour. – Transpiration – Water loss from plants. The Water Cycle • We need to get the water in the atmosphere back to Earth to complete the cycle. • The water in the atmosphere condenses and falls as precipitation from the clouds. Precipitation may be rain, snow, hail, etc. • The water continues to alternate between the ground and the atmosphere. The Water Cycle Clouds & Fog How Do Clouds Form? • Clouds are formed in three ways – all of which have warm air with a lot of moisture in it meeting up with a drop in temperature. • There are three cloud types – Convective Clouds – Frontal Clouds – Orographic Clouds Types of Clouds • Convective Clouds – Moisture-filled air goes over very warm ground and rises up into atmosphere. Clouds form as moisture cools and condenses. • Frontal Clouds – A warm air front meets and collides with a cold air front. The warm air is pushed up over the cold air where it cools and condenses and forms clouds. • Orographic Clouds – Warm air with moisture is pushed up a mountain by the wind. The warm air rises, cools, condenses and clouds form. Convective Clouds Convective Cloud Formation Frontal Clouds Frontal Cloud Formation Orographic Clouds Orographic Clouds What the Fog? • Fog is actually a cloud that forms near the ground. Moisture-filled air blows over very cold ground (night or snow-covered usually). The moisture cools, condenses and forms clouds just above the ground – fog! FOG! FIN