Hey there! I’m excited to share some cool facts about rain with you. Did you know that most of the rain that falls from the sky never actually reaches the ground? Let’s dive into why that happens!
First off, a lot of rain falls over the oceans. Since oceans cover most of our planet, it’s no surprise that a big chunk of rain ends up there. But what about the rain that falls over land?
When rain falls over land, some of it doesn’t make it to the ground because it evaporates. As raindrops fall, they pass through warmer air, which can cause them to turn back into water vapor. Imagine a magic trick where the raindrops disappear into thin air! Scientists estimate that about 40% of rain evaporates before it hits the ground.
When rain does reach the ground, it often lands on forests. Forests are full of tall, thirsty trees with big canopies that catch a lot of the rain. But trees can’t drink water through their leaves or bark. Instead, the rain drips off the leaves and runs down the trunks to the ground, where the trees can soak it up with their roots.
Some of the water caught by the trees also evaporates back into the air. This means that about 15% of the rain that falls on forests goes back up into the atmosphere. When you add this to the rain that evaporates on the way down, more than half of the rain over land never reaches the ground!
All this water vapor rising back into the sky is like having 15 giant Amazon rivers flowing invisibly above us. It’s a huge amount of water moving around in the atmosphere!
Understanding how rain interacts with trees is important. Scientists like John Van Stan at Georgia Southern University study how trees capture rain. Their research helps us learn how trees can reduce flooding during heavy rainstorms, saving a lot of money in flood damage.
So, next time it rains, remember that there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye. Rain is part of a fascinating cycle that keeps our planet in balance!
Try this experiment to see evaporation in action! Fill a shallow dish with water and place it in a sunny spot. Check it every day and note how much water disappears. This will help you understand how raindrops can evaporate before reaching the ground.
Create a diorama of a rainforest using a shoebox and craft materials. Include trees with large canopies and show how rain drips down to the ground. This will help you visualize how forests interact with rain.
Get together with your classmates and act out the water cycle. You can be raindrops, trees, or even the sun! This activity will help you understand the journey of rain and how it interacts with the environment.
Build a model of a tree canopy using paper and string. Simulate rain using a spray bottle and observe how the water is caught by the canopy and drips down. This will demonstrate how trees capture rain.
Have a discussion about the “invisible river” in the sky. Talk about how water vapor moves in the atmosphere and why it’s important. This will help you understand the concept of water vapor and its role in the water cycle.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hi, this is Kate from MinuteEarth. Most rain never reaches the ground because it falls on the oceans! However, a significant amount of rain that falls over land also doesn’t reach the ground. Some of it evaporates before it gets very far. As raindrops fall, they pass through warmer air, which causes more water molecules to evaporate from their surfaces. Measuring that water loss is challenging; we can’t levitate rain gauges at different heights in the sky to directly measure how much rain evaporates, but computer simulations suggest that about 40% of falling rain disappears back into the atmosphere.
When rain does reach the ground, it primarily lands on Earth’s forests. This is because areas with high rainfall tend to have thirsty trees that grow tall and wide, shading out most other plants. These large canopies intercept almost all of the rain that falls on them. However, just as humans can’t drink through their skin, trees can’t absorb water through their leaves or bark, so the intercepted water isn’t directly useful to them. Most of it drips off or runs down their trunks, eventually reaching the ground, where the trees can absorb it with their roots. Some of the water from the treetops also evaporates off the leaves and bark, returning around 15% of the rain that originally fell back into the atmosphere.
While that might not seem like a lot, when combined with the raindrops that evaporated on the way down, it means that more than half of the rain that falls over Earth’s land never reaches the ground. This substantial amount of water instead flows back upwards as vapor, equivalent to 15 Amazon rivers rising, invisibly, through the sky.
Thanks to Georgia Southern University for sponsoring this video, which was made possible by a National Science Foundation grant to John Van Stan. Van Stan is a professor in GSU’s Department of Geology & Geography, and he studies how well different trees capture rain that falls on them. Research from his group and its collaborators has helped us understand the vital importance of these rain-catching abilities, including their role in reducing stormwater flooding during heavy downpours, thus saving billions of dollars a year in flooding damage. Thanks, Georgia Southern!
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Rain – Water droplets that fall from clouds to the Earth’s surface – Example sentence: Rain is important for keeping plants and animals hydrated.
Evaporation – The process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor – Example sentence: Evaporation from lakes and rivers contributes to the formation of clouds.
Forests – Large areas covered chiefly with trees and undergrowth – Example sentence: Forests provide habitats for many different species of animals and plants.
Trees – Large plants with a trunk, branches, and leaves – Example sentence: Trees play a crucial role in producing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide.
Water – A clear, colorless, odorless, and tasteless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain – Example sentence: Water is essential for all living organisms to survive.
Atmosphere – The layer of gases surrounding the Earth – Example sentence: The atmosphere protects us from the sun’s harmful rays and helps regulate the Earth’s temperature.
Vapor – The gaseous form of a substance that is normally liquid or solid – Example sentence: Water vapor in the air is a key component of the Earth’s weather system.
Ground – The solid surface of the Earth – Example sentence: Plants grow by taking nutrients and water from the ground.
Oceans – Large bodies of saltwater that cover most of the Earth’s surface – Example sentence: Oceans are home to a vast array of marine life and play a vital role in the global climate.
Cycle – A series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order – Example sentence: The water cycle describes how water moves from the ground to the atmosphere and back again.
