Hydrologic cycle of the Panamanian rainforest and Mojave desert

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Module 2: Landforms
The hydrologic or water cycle is an important topic in geology that is tied to the weather and the formation of landforms. It is the stages of water on Earth as it transforms itself from liquid to gas to solid or liquid again (American Water Works Association, 2002). Discussed below are the hydrologic cycle and two different examples of it on Earth. One example is of Panama, which is a tropical climate. The other is of the Mojave Desert in California, which is a desert climate. These two very different climates demonstrate the hydrologic cycle in practical terms.
Water has three stages—liquid, gas and solid. Water on Earth can be liquid as rain, streams, or oceans. It can be a solid like hail, ice or snow. It can be a gas like vapor, steam or clouds. As described by the Department of Atmospheric Sciences (2010), the hydrologic cycle is the process of water changing from liquid to gas to solid. The energy of the sun drives the changes to water. When water is heated up, it evaporates, turning into a gas to form steam or vapor. The water vapor rises with warm air that when meets cooler air, condenses to form clouds. These clouds and water vapor can be transported around the world. Precipitation is when water falls to Earth, in warmer temperatures as liquid and in temperatures, as a solid. On Earth, precipitation can evaporate again or infiltrate the Earth to become groundwater. As ground water it can collect in oceans, rivers or on snowy mountaintops and glaciers. It can also be released back into the atmosphere via transpiration, when water evaporates off soil, trees. When water evaporates, the cycle starts again.
One example of the hydrologic cycle is of the rainforest in the Republic of Pan...

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...ric Science (2010). A summary of the hydrologic cycle. Retrieved from http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hyd/smry.rxml. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Moeller, Karla (2013, July 24). Revealing the Rainforest. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved November 29, 2013 from http://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/rainforest
The USGS Water Science School(2013, March 8). The water cycle: evapotranspiration. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycleevapotranspiration.html
WorldAtlas.com (n/d). Central America. Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/imagee.htm
WorldAtlas.com (n/d). Panama. Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/camerica/pa.htm
WorldAtlas.com (n/d). Panama: weather. Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/camerica/panama/paweather.htm

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