Water and weather, by Paula Bote Andrada #ESO2

1. Water and weather
Paula Bote Andrada

2. Water circle is driven by the Sun’s energy. It consists on:
● Evaporation: liquid water turns into gas. Here energy is
absorbed, so it’s an endothermic reaction.
● Condentation: gaseous water turns into liquid. Here energy is
released so it’s an exothermic reaction.
Droplets of water in the atmosphere accumulate and form
clouds. That water returns to Earth as precipitations.

3. The rate of evaporation depends on:
● Water body size: surface area of a body of water
● Heat energy: it contributes to evaporation and it’s produced by
the Sun.
● Atmospheric pressure: effect of air particles pushing down the
water.
● Air movement (wind):
It is produced by exchanges of
heat energy from the condensation process
Lifts water
Increase evaporation

4. Precipitation
● It occurs through condensation and it varies depending on the
temperature of water and height
● Rising vapour cools and condenses and it forms droplets.
● These droplets become suspended on dust and accumulating
in clouds.
● The clouds will eventually get too heavy, so precipitation will
fall to the surface of Earth

5. Difference between weather and climate
Conditions of the
atmosphere over a
short period of time
Conditions of the
atmosphere over a
long period of time
Weather Climate
Climate is the reflection of the distribution of Sun’s energy. Air masses and ocean
waters are important as well,

6. Other factors that determine climate
● Astronomical parameters
● Earth’s eccentricity
● Rising vapour cools and condenses and it forms droplets.
● The distribution of oceans and continents
● The greenhouse effect.ç

7. Scales to measure weather
● Global scale
● Synoptic scale
● Mesoscale
● Microscale