SC, The Water Cycle

Good day all! This is S.C.Watershed again. Remember, I said I would drop by from time to time to chat with you for a spell.
“Water, water everywhere...”, “When it rains it pours”  YEP ! That’s what it seems to be alright. Did you ever ponder where the rain comes from, what makes clouds, where the rain goes -and I don’t mean down the drain? Thought you might like to know how it was explained to me.

This involves what is called the water cycle. This movement of water happens because of the energy from the sun. The sun’s heat evaporates water from oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, moist soil, and even our plants.The plants lose their moisture through a process called transpiration.

Anyway, this evaporated water is a vapor, a gas, carried up into the sky by wind currents. In our sky , there are tiny particles called cloud-condensation nuclei. These tiny particles gather up the water vapor. When the vapor condenses or freezes around the particles, clouds are formed.

    Did you ever look at clouds? - well sure thing, lately that’s all we’ve been see’n. But these science types I know tell me that there are different kinds - no kidding !.


Weather people know about high ones, middle ones and low ones:

High clouds are 16500 ft or higher in the sky. They don’t produce rain that makes it to earth but they tell those weather folks that rain is on the way.

The mid-level -  6500 ft or more and are gray in color - rarely giving us rain.

Low-level clouds are below 6500 ft. These have many names:

• stratus - meaning in layers - If these are are around, we may have sprinkles.
• nimbostratus - lave low bases - these produce long periods of rain.
• mammatus - look like bubbles or cotton balls - will be seen during bad weather.
• cumulonimbus - the anvil shape - thunderstorm cloud.

I know we have seen all of these over the past few weeks, but let me get back to why it rains.
   
The clouds are pushed or rise higher and higher into the sky. The air gets colder and colder. The water contained in the clouds gets too heavy. The clouds just can’t carry it so it falls back to the ground - rain.

When rain falls, some may run off into streams and rivers, other will percolate down through the soil until it reaches a zone of saturation. In this zone of saturation, all pores, nooks and crannies are filled with water. Dag nabit - what do you know, this upper part of the zone of saturation is our water table, our ground water. Below the zone of saturation is solid rock. Here the water from the lower part of the zone moves slowly back to the large bodies of water again completing the cycle.


Well it seems that this is all a necessary part of our earth. Some folks refer to the earth as Gaia, the living planet - all life , atmosphere, sea and land - with its changes. Water is a necessity for life. Through this movement cycle, it is constantly supplied to us.

Some folks say that our severe weather is the result of global warming, but that’s a chat for another time. I’ve babbled on long enough. Take care. I’ll be talkin to you soon. S.C.