What Are The Most Considerable Impacts You Make?

1123 Words3 Pages

Earth is the only planet in our solar system that provides a suitable environment for life as we know it. Sustaining these conditions requires a constant recycling of materials between the living and nonliving components of eco-systems.
Select one of material cycles we studied (water, nitrogen, carbon, sulphur and phosphorus) and identify elements of your lifestyle that impact the cycle.
a. What are the most considerable impacts you make?
b. How might it change your life if you were to reduce your impacts? What would you need to give up?
c. How difficult is to balance personal choices with environmental considerations?
Your answer should be between 700–900 words long and should include introduction and conclusion sections.

Water is a necessity for the existence of human beings. Approximately 71 % of the earth is water and it exists in many different forms. From water vapor in the atmosphere, to rivers and lakes on the earth’s surface to glaciers and icecaps to aquifers in the ground. Water is constantly moving from one place to the other and from one state to the other and this process is known as the water cycle. As water evaporates, vapors rise and condense into clouds. The clouds move over the land, and precipitation falls in the form of rain, ice or snow. The water fills streams and rivers, and eventually flows back into the oceans where evaporation starts the process anew. Water 's state (solid, liquid or gas) is determined mostly by temperature. Although water continuously changes states from solid to liquid to gas, the amount of water on Earth remains constant. There is as much water now as there was hundreds of millions of years ago (Project, 1995).

The most considerable impacts humans make on the water cycle ...

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...s emission from cars, etc. has an effect on the overall increase of the Earth’s temperature and the water cycle. Sulfur and CO2 mixes with water vapor in the atmosphere, therefore when it falls as rain the chemicals in the water also falls as acid rain. This sometimes kills trees, which means there will be less trees to slow down surface run off so it can sink into the ground and become underground water. Also, raising the Earth’s temperature may mean that there is an increase of evaporation, melting of ice or other processes of the water cycle that adversely affect the climate on Earth. If we stop littering and choose to put our trash away properly we could reduce the effects of water pollution which affect the water cycle. If we quit smoking and excessive and unnecessary driving, we will be able to reduce the negative impacts of global warming on the water cycle.

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