The Water Cycle, with Some Epicness Thrown In 

     Well, this is it. The last blog of the year!  My last blog will be all about  . . .the water cycle!!
 Here's a visual:

      The water cycle has 4 stages.  Stage 1 is . . .  drumroll, please. . . . evaporation!

     The Sun heats up the water that is hanging around on Earth and causes it to evaporate, which just means it changes from a liquid to a gas.  

     The gas it changes into is called water vapor.  The water vapor rises into the sky and is collected together to form clouds.

     Once it forms clouds, the water vapor cools down and turns into water again.  This is called condensation, and it's Stage 2 of the water cycle.

    This is obviously a picture of condensation on a glass and not in the clouds, but you get the point.

     Stage 3 is called precipitation, and pretty much everyone knows what that is.  Precipitation is basically any water that falls from the sky, so it can be in the form of rain, snow, hail, etc. 

    The last stage in the water cycle, or Stage 4, is called collection.  

     Collection simply means that the precipitation that falls to the Earth is collected in streams, lakes and oceans.  



     Ok, so on to a subject that is pretty much a bummer.  The Earth is experiencing climate changes right now that have the potential to affect the water cycle.  

       Some climate changes are natural, (like solar variability), and some are either unnatural or are being accelerated by the choices of man, (like greenhouse gases).  The greatest impact may be seen in water vapor concentrations, precipitation patterns, clouds, and runoff and stream flows.  

  

     Some areas may experience a lot of flooding, while others may experience severe droughts.  Here's why.







   Greenhouse gases are causing the lower atmosphere to become warmer.  As the atmosphere becomes warmer, evaporation will increase, meaning that more moisture will be hanging around in the atmosphere.  This will cause a lot more precipitation to fall, and since it will be warmer, it will fall simply as rain.  The intensity of the rainfall will increase, which means certain parts of the Earth will experience intense and extreme storms.  

     This intense precipitation, however, will probably fall for a shorter amount of time than it used to.

     The intense storms plus the runoff (or overflow) from streams may cause a bunch of flooding in places where we never had any before.

     The increase in temperatures also causes the previously-fallen snow to melt sooner than it used to.  So the short but intense rainfall and the quicker melting of the snow could mean that, by the end of summer and into fall, there won't be enough fresh water around to cover our water needs.  

     Warmer temperatures that cause evaporation may also increase the chances of drought in some areas.
    

 
     So, to sum it up, we may experience intense storms, lots of flooding, lots of droughts, and have less water to use by the end of summer and into fall.  Yea!


    Sorry to end this blog and the year on such a bummer, but that's science, people!

Thanks for reading my blog.

     

Picture Links

Link 1 

Link 2

Link 3 

Link 4 

Link 5 

Link 6 

Link 7 

Link 8 

Link 9 

Link 10 

Link 11 

 Information Links

 Link 1

Link 2

                    Sun, Wind, and Water: Three Sources of Epicness 

     Hey, this is Jack at My Epic Blog.  Today I'm going to talk about . . .  natural resources!  Some of my favorite things are natural resources.  Here are three of my favorite natural resources:

                                                                         

 

wind ... 

water... 

and my favorite, the sun. 

     By now, you've probably figured out what a natural resource is, but I'm going to tell you anyway.  A natural resource is anything that comes from nature that people can use.  People cannot create natural resources.  We can only gather them up from the Earth.  Along with my three favorites that I've already shown you, there are other natural resources, including:

 air . . . 

 wood . . .

 oil . . .

and coal.

     Some natural resources are renewable, and some are nonrenewable.  What's the difference?  Well, the words kind of give it away.  A renewable resource is one that grows or comes back after we use it.  A nonrenewable resource is one that does not grow, and it doesn't come back after we use it, at least not for a VERY long time.

      I started this blog with examples of some of my favorite natural resources.  They also happen to be the renewable kind, (wind energy, water, and solar energy).  

    I'm sure you've heard of some of these nonrenewable resources:  coal, oil, and natural gas.  These are considered fossil fuels.

     Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, and were formed from the REMAINS of DEAD PLANTS AND ANIMALS!  Did you know that?  The remains were exposed to heat and pressure from the earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years.  The heat and pressure turned them into crude oil, coal, and natural gas!

    Because fossil fuels are made from the remains of plants and animals, they are, technically, renewable.  The problem is, the conversion of the remains into fossil fuels takes MILLIONS of years to form, sometimes even more than 650 million!  We don't have that kind of time, people.  Especially at the rate that we use up these fossil fuels.  So . . .  consider them nonrenewable.  Got it?

     People use nonrenewable resources, like fossil fuels, for more than 86% of our energy needs.  The problem with fossil fuels is that they tend to dump lots of carbon dioxide into the environment, which leads to global warming.   So, why not use renewable resources instead?  Well, the answer has two parts.  Part one: fossil fuels produce huge amounts of energy per unit, compared to renewable resources, which leads to part two: fossil fuels are much cheaper than renewable resources.  And we like cheap.

    There are some advantages to using renewable resources.  Take solar energy, for example.  

Here are three advantages:
     1.  It's renewable.
     2.  It's nice and quiet.  Gathering energy from the sun makes no noise at all!
     3.  It creates absolutely no pollution.  Go solar energy!

     Unfortunately, to every yin there must be a yang, and to every advantage, there must be a disadvantage.  Here are three disadvantages to solar energy:

     1.  You can't harness the energy of the sun when it's cloudy, rainy, or at night.

     2.  Harnessing solar energy is very expensive. You have to buy expensive solar cells and solar panels.

     3.  The solar cells and panels tend to look ridiculous.  No one really wants to look at that all day.

     Wind energy means energy generated by using wind turbines to create electricity. 

Here are some advantages:

     1.  It's renewable.

     2.  No nasty smoke or smells.

     3.  Wind turbines don't take up much space.  They use much less space than a power station.

     Are there any disadvantages?  Of course there are:

     1.  Wind is, well, unreliable.  You really can't count on the wind to be strong enough to generate power on a consistent basis.

     2.  Wind turbines create LOTS of noise pollution.  They can sound like jet planes!  Who wants that?

     3.  Placing wind turbines can be very destructive to the surrounding environment.

     Hydroelectric energy means generating electricity through the use of flowing water.  Most of us know it as a dam.   

Here are some advantages:

     1.  It's renewable.

     2.  It doesn't release pollutants into the air.

     3.  It helps collect drinking water.  Really.  Hydroelectric plants collect rainwater, which can be used for drinking if we need it.

 There are some disadvantages, but you already knew that, didn't you?

     1.  Dams are extremely expensive to build!  

     2.  The rainwater that is collected covers the land, obviously.  That means that good land can be destroyed.

     3.  Dams can break, and when they do, they cause flooding, which can cause destruction and death.  

     It's really important to conserve natural resources.  Conservation means to protect, preserve, and manage natural resources.  Conservation is important because some of the things we want to conserve take millions upon millions of years to create, and some things we want to conserve are essential for us to live healthy lives.  Like clean air, clean water, and good soil so that we can grow crops and feed livestock.  Many of the things we want to conserve contribute to the quality of our lives, like having enough energy to fuel our planet. 

    There are many, many ways to conserve.  Sometimes people refer to it this way:  rethink, reduce, recycle, repair.  It's basically about trying to use-up less of the stuff that we have and to use all things in the smartest way possible.  For example, we can:

• use less paper if we do our homework on the computer;
• use less paper and plastic if we recycle everything that we can; 
• replace as many trees as we cut down for our use;
• try to limit industrial development so that we save some of our planet's green space;
• drive cars with really high miles per gallon of gasoline;
• turn off all electrical appliances when we're not using them.

      The list could go on and on.  We basically need to be aware of what we're doing and what we're using up in the process.

     Thanks for reading my blog.

    

    

 Information Links
Link 1 
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Link 6
Link 7
Link 8
Link 9


Picture Links
Link 1
 Link 2  
Link 3
Link 4 
Link 5 
Link 6 
Link 7
Link 8 
Link 9
Link 10 
Link 11
Link 12 
 Link 13

                               The Moon - Phase 2

     Hello, this is Jack at My (Overly) Epic Blog. I'm really sorry, but we still have to focus on the phases of this fellow: 
 

                                                        

     Yup, it's the moon.  We did the moon last week, but apparently we weren't finished.

     People believe some wacky things about the moon.  This is true today and it was true in ancient times.  You may have heard that people go crazy when it's a full moon.  Like this guy:

     It must be a full moon everyday around here.
     

     In ancient China, people thought that there were 12 different moons, one to go with each month.  They also believed the moons were made of water.  The moon looks more like cheese than water to me.  I don't think they had cheese in ancient China.


     The ancient Chinese also believed that a white rabbit lived in the moon. Here's a depiction of him:


    

  

     I've noticed that the moon seems to change shape over time.  We all know that the moon doesn't really change shapes.  It's always a spherical shape, just like Earth.  We call what we see as a change in shape as  . . . drumroll, please . . . .  the phases of the moon! 

    What we call a "month" is actually based on the different phases of the moon.  In fact, this is the definition of a "month" from the dictionary:

   " Month:  a unit of time corresponding approximately to one cycle of the moon's phases."
  
   
     From Earth, we always see the same face of the moon because the moon is rotating at the same speed as the Earth is rotating.  The sun always shines on the half of the moon that we see, and the other half of the moon is always in the dark.  But as the moon travels around the Earth, we only get to see part of the illuminated side.  What we know as the moon's phases describes the part of the moon that is illuminated from our perspective.  The shape varies from a full moon (when the Earth is between the sun and the moon) and a new moon (when the moon is between the sun and the Earth).

     Sometimes, the sun, the moon, and Earth line up in such a way that one of them blocks light from the other.  Whenever that happens, we call it an eclipse.  During a solar eclipse, the moon moves between the Earth and the sun and blocks off all the light.  Here's a diagram:

     A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and the Earth.  In that case, you'd think we'd get a solar eclipse each month, but we don't.

     Why don’t we get a solar eclipse each month?  It’s because the moon’s orbit around the Earth occurs at a slightly different plane than the Earth’s orbit around the sun.  So, the moon crosses the Earth’s orbital plane only twice per year.  Most months, the moon passes above or below the sun. Plus, like I just said, for a solar eclipse to take place, the moon must be in the new moon phase.  That’s why solar eclipses are so rare.  Here's an actual picture:

     During a lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks the light from the sun that normally lights up the moon.

     
     A lunar eclipse can only occur at a full moon.  We don’t get them on a monthly basis for a similar reason that we don’t get a solar eclipse every month: because the moon’s orbit around the Earth occurs at a slightly different plane than the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

      When I think about the phases of the moon, it helps me to see the whole picture.  Here’s a diagram of the phases of the moon.  I’ll explain each one after we see the whole picture.

     There are lots of new words to learn when describing the phases of the moon.

     I'll start with waxing and waning.  Waxing is the phase when the illumination of the moon is increasing.  The moon appears to be getting larger.  Waning is the opposite of waxing.  During this phase, the illumination of the moon is decreasing.  The moon appears to be getting smaller.

     The first phase of the moon is called the new moon.  This is when the moon lies closest to the sun in the sky as seen from Earth.  We can’t see the moon at this time, except if there’s a solar eclipse.

     Crescent moons refer to when the moon is less than half illuminated.

     The waxing crescent moon is the first sliver of the moon that we can see. 

      A first quarter moon occurs when the moon is halfway illuminated. In this phase, the right-handed side of the moon is lit up.

     Gibbous moons refer to when the moon is more than half illuminated.

     A waxing gibbous occurs when the moon is more illuminated than half, but is not yet a full moon.

     A full moon means that the moon is fully illuminated by the light of the sun.  It appears as s complete circle.  This is the only time we can see a lunar eclipse.

     A waning gibbous occurs when the moon is more illuminated than half, but is not a full moon anymore.

     A last (or third) quarter moon occurs when the moon is halfway illuminated, but now it’s the left-handed side of the moon that is lit up.

     A waning crescent occurs when the moon is less than half illuminated.  This is the final sliver of moon we see until the moon goes totally dark again.

     The terminator is the dividing line between illuminated and un-illuminated part of the moon.

      A lunar month is the amount of time it takes for the moon to pass through each of its phases and the return back to its original position.  It takes about 29.5 days for the moon to complete one lunar month.


     Bye moon!  See you later.

Information Links

Link 1
Link 2 

Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Link 6 
Link 7 
Link 8 
Link 9 

Picture Links

  Link 1    

Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5 
Link 6 
Link 7 
Link 8 
Link 9 
Link 10
Link 11  
Link 12 
Link 13 
Link 14 
Link 15