Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Water Cycle Cosmopolitan

I have given much thought to the earths water cycle over the last decade or more and decided I would blog my thoughts. I am sure some of this will not make sense and some will contradict itself... but that is the beauty of conspiracies and or free thought.

It started sometime in the early 90's, when there was a lot of hubbub about cutting down all the rain forests and how the rain stops falling when all the trees are cut out. I had read somewhere in science class that the earth has lost only like 1/10 of one percent of the water in its water cycle since it was created.

Water is the source of all life on earth. The distribution of water, however, is quite varied; many locations have plenty of it while others have very little. Water exists on earth as a solid
(ice), liquid or gas (water vapor). Oceans, rivers, clouds, and rain, all of which contain water, are in a frequent state of change (surface water evaporates, cloud water precipitates, rainfall infiltrates the ground, etc.). However, the total amount of the earth's water does not change. The circulation and conservation of earth's water is called the "hydrologic cycle".

So if this is true where does all the water vapor go if it does not
condense and fall over the area that was once rain forest?

Rainforests now cover less than 6% of Earth's land surface. Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests. Tropical rainforests produce 40% of Earth's oxygen.

The Amazon rainforest plays a critical role in regional weather by
contributing moisture to local humidity through transpiration the process by which plants release water through their leaves.


It is estimated that Amazon creates 50-80% of its own rainfall through this process.Thus, as forest is felled, degraded, and cleared there is less heat absorption by vegetation and less moisture is evapotranspired into the atmosphere. The result: fewer rain clouds are formed and less precipitation falls on the forest

NASA researchers confirmed this with their finding that during the Amazon dry season there was a distinct pattern of lower rainfall and warmer temperatures over deforested regions. The forest becomes drier contributing to a positive feedback loop where rainforest is replaced with savanna which transpires less and less moisture and is more susceptible to fires, which in themselves may alter regional climate by inhibiting cloud formation. -Mongabay.com

I have a theory, it has been dispersed to the rest of the planet causing more humid than normal summers in the temperate zones. Its enough moisture to raise he humidity but not enough to saturate the cooler air enough to cause precipitation.

I also believe (in the U.S.) that all of the irrigating of crops, golf courses, lawns and what ever else, has lead to higher humidity levels and a water shortage in some parts of the country. The water used in the southwest to irrigate has no way to condensate and form rain clouds, thus just adding moisture/humidity to the air and not completing the cycle. Also the amount of water being pulled out of the natural cycle for swimming pools must have some effect.

I also have another, albeit odd, theory. We humans are made up of 75% water, and there are 6,602,224,175 of us on the planet. (July 2007 est.) If we assume an average weight of 100 pounds per person.... that's 660,222,417,500 total planet pounds..... and 75% of that weight equals (remember we are 75% water) 495,166,813,125 pounds of water that is being diverted from the water cycle by way of human reservoirs. This does not include other mass produced human consumption mammals.

OK a little on global warming.... has anybody figured, out or cared to figure out the amount of jet fuel exhaust expelled into our atmosphere each day from commercial airliners.... There are about 11,000 commercial flights every eight hours. I think this may play a far larger role in the greenhouse effect than my lawn mower that is not equipped with a catalytic converter. Did anyone else notice how deep blue the sky became the days following 911? No Jets, clearer skies. hmmmm.

I also think the amount of urban sprawl is tantamount to the warming of the earth as well. We take down the trees and put in streets and buildings that absorb heat from the suns rays and the radiate back int the air.

OK last bit for now on global warming... they say when the ice melts on the polar caps it will flood parts of the earth.... I want you to try something... Fill a glass with ice, OK now fill it with water... like to the rim full..... got it?.... now let the ice melt.... What happens to the water level? .... Yeah... it drops.

Water contracts and takes up less space when it is in liquid form. Yes I know that glaciers are parked on land and that the water will run off into the ocean, but the ice and icebergs in the ocean
will have melted at this point lowering the sea level.

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