Hablamos de nuestra supervivencia, la de la humanidad. Este recurso fundamental para la vida y muy vulnerable escasea más y más a medida que pasa el tiempo. Es el agua.
El agua está siendo afectada de manera muy seria por los impactos de nuestras actividades: vertidos contaminantes, alteraciones de su ciclo debidas al cambio climático, acumulación de residuos en los ríos y mares. Los esfuerzos que se hacen para su protección no parecen suficientes, muchas veces, por una infravaloración de los riesgos de una incorrecta gestión.
Todos podemos imaginar el impacto comercial que la deficiencia o ausencia del agua puede tener, pero no somos totalmente conscientes de ello.
Hoy recordamos qué es el ciclo del agua para, así, entender mejor la repercusión de las acciones empresariales e individuales que de manera directa e indirecta dejan huella en ella.
«El ciclo hidrológico comienza con la evaporación del agua desde la superficie. A medida que se eleva, el aire humedecido se enfría y el vapor se transforma en agua: es la condensación. Las gotas se juntan y forman una nube. Luego caen por su propio peso: es la precipitación. Si en la atmósfera hace mucho frío, el agua cae como nieve o granizo. Si es más cálida, caerán gotas de lluvia.
Una parte del agua que llega a la superficie terrestre será aprovechada por los seres vivos; otra discurrirá por el terreno hasta llegar a un río, un lago o el océano. A este fenómeno se le conoce como escorrentía. Otro porcentaje del agua se filtrará a través del suelo formando acuíferos o capas de agua subterránea, conocidas como capas freáticas. Este proceso es la infiltración. De la capa freática, a veces, el agua brota en la superficie en forma de fuente, formando arroyos o ríos. Tarde o temprano, toda esta agua volverá nuevamente a la atmósfera, debido principalmente a la evaporación». (Wikipedia).
We talk about our survival, that of humanity. This fundamental resource for life and very vulnerable is scarce more and more as time goes by. Is the water.
Water is being seriously affected by the impacts of our activities: polluting discharges, alterations in its cycle due to climate change, accumulation of waste in rivers and seas. The efforts made to protect them do not seem sufficient, many times, due to an underestimation of the risks of incorrect management.
We can all imagine the commercial impact that the lack or absence of water can have, but we are not fully aware of it.
Today we remember what the water cycle is in order to better understand the impact of business and individual actions that directly and indirectly leave their mark on it.
«The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in oceans and seas. Water evaporates as water vapor into the air. Some ice and snow sublimates directly into water vapor. Evapotranspiration is water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil. The water molecule H2O has smaller molecular mass than the major components of the atmosphere, nitrogen and oxygen, N2 and O2, hence is less dense. Due to the significant difference in density, buoyancy drives humid air higher. As altitude increases, air pressure decreases and the temperature drops (see Gas laws). The lower temperature causes water vapor to condense into tiny liquid water droplets which are heavier than the air, and fall unless supported by an updraft. A huge concentration of these droplets over a large space up in the atmosphere become visible as cloud. Some condensation is near ground level, and called fog.
Atmospheric circulation moves water vapor around the globe; cloud particles collide, grow, and fall out of the upper atmospheric layers as precipitation. Some precipitation falls as snow or hail, sleet, and can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers, which can store frozen water for thousands of years. Most water falls back into the oceans or onto land as rain, where the water flows over the ground as surface runoff. A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape, with streamflow moving water towards the oceans. Runoff and water emerging from the ground (groundwater) may be stored as freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into rivers; much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration. Some water infiltrates deep into the ground and replenishes aquifers, which can store freshwater for long periods of time. Some infiltration stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface-water bodies (and the ocean) as groundwater discharge. Some groundwater finds openings in the land surface and comes out as freshwater springs. In river valleys and floodplains, there is often continuous water exchange between surface water and ground water in the hyporheic zone. Over time, the water returns to the ocean, to continue the water cycle». (Wikipedia)
Un comentario en “La Conservación de la Especie 2. El Ciclo del Agua. / The Conservation of the Species 2. The Water Cycle.”