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| WATER CYCLE | ||
| Your body and those of other organisms
is more than 90% water. Obviously, it is very important to keep water available to
all of us. This happens through the water cycle, which begins with evaporation from
the earth's surface. The sun "boils" water into the air where it cools and
condenses to form clouds which release rain drops. When rain hits the ground, some
sinks in helping to recharge the water table. Some runs off into canals, lakes and
streams and travels to the ocean. Part of it is "boiled" off again and
continues the cycle. We get our water for drinking, agriculture and industry from ground and surface water bodies. Most important for us is water that sinks into the ground. Where the earth's surface is hardened by pavement and buildings, less water sinks in and less ground water is available. We need to Landscape so as to maximize the water that sinks in. |
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| RUNOFF | ||
| As water runs off it picks up a variety of things including sediments, trash, fertilizers, pesticides and oils washed off streets and lawns. The more runoff there is, the more foreign material flows into canals. We need to remember that if it falls on the ground it can end up in the water! | ||
| FOOD WEB | ||
| There's a web
of life that works for all of us in every canal, lake and stream. Plants are the
base of this web. They get their energy from the sun and in process of growing,
absorb nutrients and other runoff wastes. Plants are eaten by a variety of consumers
in canals. Many are too tiny to be seen, but others include small fish, crayfish,
and insects. Energy in these consumers is utilized by predators, such as frogs, big
fish, alligators and many kinds of birds. In time, all of these consumers will die
and be decomposed by bacteria which are eaten by other consumers. In this process,
materials are changed from energy-rich to enegry-poor and the energy used supports all
life involved. Materials are used over again while the energy has to be continuously
supplied by the sun. This web works for all of us by cleaning up many wastes and by
trapping poisons where they can do less harm. Since the action is solar-powered, it
costs us nothing. But this web can be overwhelmed by pollution and then it stops
provides us with the free clean-up. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU FEED YOUR CANAL - YOU CAN KILL IT! |
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