Water Cycle

Earth's natural systems work like a giant recycling machine, where elements like water, carbon, and nitrogen constantly move through living and nonliving things.

One of the most important cycles is the water cycle, which ensures water recycles between the land, atmosphere, and oceans.

The journey begins with the evaporation of water from oceans, lakes, and rivers, transforming into water vapor.

As the water vapor rises, it cools down and changes into tiny liquid droplets, forming clouds. This process is called condensation.

When these tiny water droplets in clouds combine and grow heavy, they fall back to Earth as precipitation. Depending on the atmospheric temperature, precipitation can be rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Some of this water soaks into the ground and becomes groundwater, stored in underground layers of rock called aquifers.

Water also flows over the land as runoff, collecting in rivers and streams that eventually return it to the ocean.

Plants also play a role through transpiration, releasing water from their leaves into the atmosphere.