Ecological Footprint
Ever wondered what impact you have on the planet or maybe how much “nature” supports your lifestyle?
Try completing the ecological footprint quiz and find out how you’re doing and ways you can help!
Test Your Watersense
Think you know a thing or two about water? Try moving our water-efficiency hero, Flo, through pipes, answering water-efficiency questions while avoiding water-wasting monsters.
The Cycle of Water
The earth is composed of about 70% water, but only 1% of that water is in a form usable by humans and all other forms are stuck in places like the ocean, ice caps, deep in the ground, or even within you and me. So if we can only use a small amount of water on the Earth, then how have we not run out of water by now? The answer lies in the Water Cycle (or Hydrologic Cycle)!
The Water Cycle seen above shows the Earth’s natural movement of water through its environment by recycling and renewing water sources over billions of years. So what does this mean…? It means there is no new water created on Earth and that glass of water you had this morning was likely one that a dinosaur also drank long ago.
There are four essential stages of the Water Cycle that eveyone should know:
| Evaporation and Transpiration | Water starts in our oceans, rivers and lakes. It is there that the sun shines down on the surface, heating the water up so it turns from liquid to vapor (Evaporation). Green plants also release water vapor into the air like you release water vapor when you breathe, in a process called Transpiration. Rising air current and pressures then carry water vapor high into the atmosphere, often separating from any heavier chemicals or pollutants at this point. |
| Condensation | High in the atmosphere cooler temperatures cause the water vapor to turn back into liquid (Condensation). The continual movement of air carries the water until it becomes heavy and forms rain-carrying clouds. |
| Precipitation | As the clouds grow heavier, they will release the water they hold as rain, sleet, hail, or snow down on the earth (Precipitation). |
| Infiltration and Run-off | As the water falls to the ground in its many forms, it will either absorb back into the soil or form pools on the surface that eventually finds its way back to our rivers, lakes, and oceans (Run-off). As for the water that enters the soil, it flows deep down in the earth’s surface, having any pollutants filtered out between the dirt and rock along the way (Infiltration). This water often makes its way into natural underground pockets known as aquifers below the surface in a process called Percolation. |