How does pollution affect the water cycle

Oceans cover more than 70 percent of Earth's surface. This means that oceans are responsible for absorbing significant amounts of solar energy, and ocean currents then move this warmth around the planet, which regulates the climate. Changes in ocean temperatures and currents will influence both weather and climate. In some areas, temperatures may be higher than typical, and in other areas, temperatures can be cooler than normal. Oceanic temperature fluctuations can also be responsible for spawning storms that cause significant damage.

An average family in the United States uses more than gallons of water every day. Protecting the water is everyone's responsibility, since everyone contributes to water problems and everyone needs water to survive. Although there are millions of cubic miles of water on Earth, less than one percent of that water is usable. Water treatment plants have to process water to make it usable. Conserving water reduces the need for water treatment and keeps more water available to use.

Some easy ways to protect water include installing low-flow showerheads and toilets, which use much less water, and washing only full loads of laundry and dishes, which saves both water and energy. Using a dishwasher uses less water than washing dishes by hand. It's also important to fix any plumbing leaks in your home; dripping pipes and faucets waste many gallons of water each year. The researchers think the aerosols may be 'spinning down' the hydrological cycle of the planet.

Heat from the sun drives the water cycle by evaporating water from the ocean, which escapes into the atmosphere and eventually falls out as rain. The INDOEX project measured chemical pollution over the Indian Ocean using a combination of satellites, aircraft, ships, balloons and surface stations.

Only a third of the solar radiation reaching the top of the atmosphere gets through the haze to the water surface. The concern for the scientists is that the pollution is sitting in an area previously thought to be very clean. Aerosols have other impacts. According to team member Daniel Rosenfeld, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , they can limit the size of water droplets within clouds, stifling the development of the larger droplets required to form efficient raindrops and thereby suppressing rain over polluted regions.

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