Synonyms
Definitions
The Earth is a closed system, meaning that very little matter, including water, ever leaves or enters the atmosphere; the water that was here billions of years ago is still here now (NGWA; USGS).
Water means life on the Earth. Any living organism consists of water and its functioning is bound to water availability and water sources. Water on the Earth exists in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms always in constant redistribution process between these forms also known as the hydrologic cycle.
This cycle corresponds to the succession of stages through which water passes from the atmosphere to the Earth and returns to the atmosphere: evaporation from the land, sea, or inland water, condensation to form clouds, precipitation, interception, infiltration, percolation, runoff, accumulation in the soil or in bodies of water, and re-evaporation (NOAA, Water cycle).
Introduction
Water Distribution
The total volume of water...
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Oksana, T., Dmytro, G. (2021). Earth’s Water Distribution. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Clean Water and Sanitation. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70061-8_103-1
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