Water University of Wisconsin–Madison（水大学麦迪逊分校）.pdfVIP

WATER Water covers about 70% of Earth’s surface, makes up about 70% of your mass, and is essential for life. This photograph of planet Earth, taken by the Apollo 17 crew as they traveled to- ward the moon on December 7, 1972, shows an area of the planet from the Mediterranean Sea to Antarctica. Water is visi- ble in this photograph as the Atlantic, Indian and Southern (or Antarctic) Oceans, the south polar icecap, and as heavy cloud cover in the southern hemisphere and scattered along the equa- tor. Water is the only substance that exists naturally on Earth in all three physical states of matter—gas, liquid, and solid—and it is always on the move among them. The Earth has oceans of liq- uid water and polar regions covered by solid water. Energy from the sun is absorbed by liquid water in oceans, lakes, and rivers and gains enough energy for some of it to evaporate and enter the atmos- phere as an invisible gas, water vapor. As the water vapor rises in the atmosphere it cools and con- denses into tiny liquid droplets that scatter light and become visible as clouds. Under the proper con- ditions, these droplets further combine and become heavy enough to precipitate (fall out) as drops of liquid or, or if the air is cold enough, flakes of solid, thus returning to the surface of the Earth to con- tinue this cycle of water between its condensed and vapor phases. (More information on the Hydrologic Cycle) Water in all three states makes a large contribution to the planet’s climate. Water vapor is a green- house gas that traps energy radiated from the surface of the planet and helps to keep the planet warm enough to sustain the complex life that has evolved in this environment. Water vapor is responsible for more than half the Earth’s greenhouse gas warming. On the o