Earth's Water Cycle

Book excerpt: Essential to life, water can be found in different forms all around us. This important book explains how the Earth's supply of water moves from bodies of water, to the atmosphere, and to land in a process called the water cycle . Accessible text and detailed images help explain such processes as transpiration, evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, as well as the important roles of sunlight and gravity in the water cycle. Feature boxes highlight examples of the ways in which human activity creates shortages of clean water and interferes with the water cycle. Readers are encouraged to find ways to take action and find solutions.