Water Cycle
Water Cycle or Hydrologic Cycle,series of movements of water above, on, and below the surface of the earth. Thewater cycle consists of four distinct stages: storage, evaporation,precipitation, and runoff. Water may be stored temporarily in the ground; inoceans, lakes, and rivers; and in ice caps and glaciers. It evaporates from theearth’s surface, condenses in clouds, falls back to the earth as precipitation(rain or snow), and eventually either runs into the seas or reevaporates intothe atmosphere. Almost all the water on the earth has passed through the watercycle countless times. Very little water has been created or lost over the pastbillion years. Precipitation occurs when watervapor in the atmosphere condenses into clouds and falls to the Earth.precipitation can take a variety of forms, including rain, snow, ice pellets,and hail. About 300 cubic kilometers (about 70 cubic miles) of precipitationfalls each day. The water from precipitation isstored on the Earth in both liquid and