scholarly journals Biological catalysis of the hydrological cycle: life's thermodynamic function

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1093-1123 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Michaelian
Keyword(s):  
Thermodynamic Function ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
Equilibrium Process ◽  
Biological Catalysis ◽  
Wind Currents ◽  
Water Transpiration

Abstract. Darwinian theory depicts life as being overwhelmingly consumed by a fight for survival in a hostile environment. However, from a thermodynamic perspective, life is a dynamic out of equilibrium process, stabilizing and coevolving in concert with its abiotic environment. The living component of the biosphere on the surface of the Earth of greatest biomass, the plants and cyanobacteria, are involved in the transpiration of a vast amount of water. Transpiration is part of the global water cycle, and it is this cycle that distinguishes Earth from its apparently life barren neighboring planets, Venus and Mars. The dissipation of sunlight into heat by organic molecules in the biosphere and its coupling to the water cycle (as well as other abiotic processes), is by far the greatest entropy producing process occurring on Earth. Life, from this perspective, can be viewed as performing an important thermodynamic function; acting as a dynamic catalyst by aiding irreversible abiotic process such as the water cycle, hurricanes, and ocean and wind currents to produce entropy. The role of animals in this view is that of unwitting but dedicated servants of the plants and cyanobacteria, helping them to grow and to spread into initially inhospitable areas.

scholarly journals HESS Opinions "Biological catalysis of the hydrological cycle: life's thermodynamic function"

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 2629-2645 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Michaelian
Keyword(s):  
Thermodynamic Function ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
Equilibrium Process ◽  
Biological Catalysis ◽  
Wind Currents ◽  
Water Transpiration

Abstract. Darwinian theory depicts life as being overwhelmingly consumed by a fight for survival in a hostile environment. However, from a thermodynamic perspective, life is a dynamic, out of equilibrium process, stabilizing and coevolving in concert with its abiotic environment. The living components of the biosphere on the Earth's surface of greatest biomass, the plants and cyanobacteria, are involved in the transpiration of a vast amount of water. Transpiration is part of the global water cycle, and it is this cycle that distinguishes Earth from its apparently life-barren neighboring planets, Venus and Mars. The dissipation of sunlight into heat by organic molecules in the biosphere, and its coupling to the water cycle (as well as other abiotic processes), is by far the greatest entropy-producing process occurring on Earth. Life, from this perspective, can be viewed as performing an important thermodynamic function, acting as a dynamic catalyst by aiding irreversible abiotic processes such as the water cycle, hurricanes, and ocean and wind currents to produce entropy. The role of animals in this view is that of unwitting but dedicated servants of the plants and cyanobacteria, helping them to grow, and to spread into initially inhospitable areas.

Advancing Global-and Continental-Scale Hydrometeorology: Contributions of GEWEX Hydrometeorology Panel

2004 ◽  
Vol 85 (12) ◽  
pp. 1917-1930 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Lawford ◽  
R. Stewart ◽  
J. Roads ◽  
H.-J. Isemer ◽  
M. Manton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
Experimental Prediction ◽  
Science Community ◽  
Global Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Regional Water

Over the past 9 years, the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX), under the auspices of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), has coordinated the activities of the Continental Scale Experiments (CSEs) and other related research through the GEWEX Hydrometeorology Panel (GHP). The GHP contributes to the WCRP'S objective of “developing the fundamental scientific understanding of the physical climate system and climate processes [that is] needed to determine to what extent climate can be predicted and the extent of man's influence on climate.” It also contributes to more specific GEWEX objectives, such as determining the hydrological cycle and energy fluxes, modeling the global hydrological cycle and its impacts, developing a capability to predict variations in global and regional hydrological processes, and fostering the development of observing techniques, data management and assimilation systems. GHP activities include diagnosis, simulation, and experimental prediction of regional water balances and process and modeling studies aimed at understanding and predicting the variability of the global water cycle, with an emphasis on regional coupled land–atmosphere processes. GHP efforts are central to providing a scientific basis for assessing critical science issues, such as the consequences of climate change for the intensification of the global hydrological cycle and its potential impacts on regional water resources. This article provides an overview of the role and evolution of the GHP and describes scientific issues that the GHP is seeking to address in collaboration with the international science community.

The role of ancestral groundwater techniques as nature based solutions for managing water

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Ribeiro
Keyword(s):  
Water Cycle ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Aquifer Recharge ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
Adverse Impacts ◽  
The People ◽  
Natural Wetlands ◽  
Territory Management

<p>To achieve water sustainability and a more efficient use of water we should base on the ancestral water and territory management knowledge and grained in the culture of the people, <br>This article is inspired in Nature Based Solutions (NBS) for managing water availability, particularly groundwater and aquifer-related NBS that hold major un-realized potential for alleviating adverse impacts of progressive climate change, namely to increase water security/drought resilience. In some cases, more ecosystem-friendly forms of water storage, such as natural wetlands, improvements in soil moisture and more efficient recharge of groundwater, could be more sustain-able and cost-effective than traditional grey infrastructure such as dams<br>The core of this article is centered in the pre-Inca and Inca civilizations and how these communities have developed ingenious NBS solutions to adapt to extreme climate scenarios such as prolonged droughts, managing water resources in a holistic way and how they understand clearly the global water cycle in all the components specially groundwater.<br>The article is divided in three interlinked parts: 1) to sow water, by implementing ancestral aquifer recharge solutions, 2) to retain water by improve hydraulic efficiency in terms of infiltration and drainage and 3) to collect water by improve the performance of extraction in the subterranean aqueducts in arid regions.</p>

scholarly journals Partitioning of Rainfall and Sprinkler-Irrigation by Crop Canopies: A Global Review and Evaluation of Available Research

Hydrology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Meimei Lin ◽  
Seyed Mohammad Moein Sadeghi ◽  
John T. Van Stan
Keyword(s):  
Water Cycle ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
Crop Types ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

The role of crop canopies in the global water cycle is a topic of increasing international interest. How much rain and sprinkler-irrigation water are returned to the atmosphere or reach the soils beneath crop canopies, and the pathways of those water inputs at the soil, are linked to agricultural productivity and sustainability. This concise-format review synthesized and evaluated the available, limited, observational data (138 studies) on cropland throughfall, stemflow, and/or interception for >60 crop species covering all major climate types to obtain a global analysis of rainfall and sprinkler-irrigation partitioning by crop canopies. Partitions normalized per unit rain/sprinkler-irrigation (relative fractions, %) vary greatly across crop types with the interquartile range of throughfall, stemflow, and interception being 58–83%, 2–26%, and 11–32%, respectively. Stemflow data distribution across crop types is more often different than for throughfall and interception, contributing to overall variations in the partitioning of rain and irrigation observed to date. Partitions per storm also differ depending on the magnitude of rain or sprinkler-irrigation events and the stage of crop growth. Furthermore, throughfall and stemflow input patterns at the soil surface and subsurface may erode soils through different physical processes (i.e., throughfall droplet impact/splash versus scouring by stemflow); however, more research is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and overall impacts. Finally, comparative analyses of partitions among croplands, shrublands, and forests indicate that crop canopies partition rain inputs differently and that there is a lack of studies in croplands. Hence, we suggest that future effort should be directed to the partitioning of rainfall and sprinkler-irrigation by canopies in agricultural settings.

scholarly journals Imprint of the Pacific Walker Circulation in global precipitation δ18O

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-55
Author(s):  
Georgina Falster ◽  
Bronwen Konecky ◽  
Midhun Madhavan ◽  
Samantha Stevenson ◽  
Sloan Coats
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Walker Circulation ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Moisture Source ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Global Water

AbstractCharacterising variability in the global water cycle is fundamental to predicting impacts of future climate change; understanding the role of the Pacific Walker circulation (PWC) in the regional expression of global water cycle changes is critical to understanding this variability. Water isotopes are ideal tracers of the role of the PWC in global water cycling, because they retain information about circulation-dependent processes including moisture source, transport, and delivery. We collated publicly-available measurements of precipitation δ18O (δ18OP), and used novel data processing techniques to synthesise long (34-year), globally-distributed composite records from temporally discontinuous δ18OP measurements. We investigated relationships between global-scale δ18OP variability and PWC strength, as well as other possible drivers of global δ18OP variability—including the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and global mean temperature—and used isotope-enabled climate model simulations to assess potential biases arising from uneven geographical distribution of the observations or our data processing methodology. Co-variability underlying the δ18OP composites is more strongly correlated with the PWC (r = 0.74) than any other index of climate variability tested. We propose that the PWC imprint in global δ18OP arises from multiple complementary processes, including PWC-related changes in moisture source and transport length, and a PWC- or ENSO-driven ‘amount effect’ in tropical regions. The clear PWC imprint in global δ18OP implies a strong PWC influence on the regional expression of global water cycle variability on interannual to decadal timescales, and hence that uncertainty in the future state of the PWC translates to uncertainties in future changes in the global water cycle.

scholarly journals Imprint of the Pacific Walker Circulation in global precipitation δ18O

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgina Falster ◽  
Bronwen Konecky ◽  
Midhun Madhavan ◽  
Samantha Stevenson ◽  
Sloan Coats
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Walker Circulation ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Moisture Source ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Global Water ◽  
Precipitation Δ18o

Characterising variability in the global water cycle is fundamental to predicting impacts of future climate change; understanding the role of the Pacific Walker circulation (PWC) in the regional expression of global water cycle changes is critical to understanding this variability. Water isotopes are ideal tracers of the role of the PWC in global water cycling, because they retain information about circulation-dependent processes including moisture source, transport, and delivery. We collated publicly-available measurements of precipitation δ18O (δ18OP), and used novel data processing techniques to synthesise long (34-year), globally-distributed composite records from temporally discontinuous δ18OP measurements. We investigated relationships between global-scale δ18OP variability and PWC strength, as well as other possible drivers of global δ18OP variability—including the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and global mean temperature—and used isotope-enabled climate model simulations to assess potential biases arising from uneven geographical distribution of the observations or our data processing methodology. Co-variability underlying the δ18OP composites is more strongly correlated with the PWC (r = 0.74) than any other index of climate variability tested. We propose that the PWC imprint in global δ18OP arises from multiple complementary processes, including PWC-related changes in moisture source and transport length, and a PWC- or ENSO-driven ‘amount effect’ in tropical regions. The clear PWC imprint in global δ18OP implies a strong PWC influence on the regional expression of global water cycle variability on interannual to decadal timescales, and hence that uncertainty in the future state of the PWC translates to uncertainties in future changes in the global water cycle.

scholarly journals Estimated Impacts of Climate Change on Eddy Meridional Moisture Transport in the Atmosphere

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (23) ◽  
pp. 4992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soldatenko
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Baroclinic Instability ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Static Stability ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Atmospheric Moisture ◽  
Global Water Cycle

Research findings suggest that water (hydrological) cycle of the earth intensifies in response to climate change, since the amount of water that evaporates from the ocean and land to the atmosphere and the total water content in the air will increase with temperature. In addition, climate change affects the large-scale atmospheric circulation by, for example, altering the characteristics of extratropical transient eddies (cyclones), which play a dominant role in the meridional transport of heat, moisture, and momentum from tropical to polar latitudes. Thus, climate change also affects the planetary hydrological cycle by redistributing atmospheric moisture around the globe. Baroclinic instability, a specific type of dynamical instability of the zonal atmospheric flow, is the principal mechanism by which extratropical cyclones form and evolve. It is expected that, due to global warming, the two most fundamental dynamical quantities that control the development of baroclinic instability and the overall global atmospheric dynamics—the parameter of static stability and the meridional temperature gradient (MTG)—will undergo certain changes. As a result, climate change can affect the formation and evolution of transient extratropical eddies and, therefore, macro-exchange of heat and moisture between low and high latitudes and the global water cycle as a whole. In this paper, we explore the effect of changes in the static stability parameter and MTG caused by climate change on the annual-mean eddy meridional moisture flux (AMEMF), using the two classical atmospheric models: the mid-latitude f-plane model and the two-layer β-plane model. These models are represented in two versions: “dry,” which considers the static stability of dry air alone, and “moist,” in which effective static stability is considered as a combination of stability of dry and moist air together. Sensitivity functions were derived for these models that enable estimating the influence of infinitesimal perturbations in the parameter of static stability and MTG on the AMEMF and on large-scale eddy dynamics characterized by the growth rate of unstable baroclinic waves of various wavelengths. For the base climate change scenario, in which the surface temperature increases by 1 °C and warming of the upper troposphere outpaces warming of the lower troposphere by 2 °C (this scenario corresponds to the observed warming trend), the response of the mass-weighted vertically averaged annual mean MTG is -0.2 ℃ per 1000 km. The dry static stability increases insignificantly relative to the reference climate state, while on the other hand, the effective static stability decreases by more than 5.4%. Assuming that static stability of the atmosphere and the MTG are independent of each other (using One-factor-at-a-time approach), we estimate that the increase in AMEMF caused by change in MTG is about 4%. Change in dry static stability has little effect on AMEMF, while change in effective static stability leads to an increase in AMEMF of about 5%. Thus, neglecting atmospheric moisture in calculations of the atmospheric static stability leads to tangible differences between the results obtained using the dry and moist models. Moist models predict ~9% increase in AMEMF due to global warming. Dry models predict ~4% increase in AMEMF solely because of the change in MTG. For the base climate change scenario, the average temperature of the lower troposphere (up to ~4 km), in which the atmospheric moisture is concentrated, increases by ~1.5 ℃. This leads to an increase in specific humidity of about 10.5%. Thus, since both AMEMF and atmospheric water vapor content increase due to the influence of climate change, a rather noticeable restructuring of the global water cycle is expected.

Historical Development of the Global Water Cycle as a Science Framework

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Lawford ◽  
Sushel Unninayar
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Energy System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Hydrological Processes ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
Global Water

The global water cycle concept has its roots in the ancient understanding of nature. Indeed, the Greeks and Hebrews documented some of the most some important hydrological processes. Furthermore, Africa, Sri Lanka, and China all have archaeological evidence to show the sophisticated nature of water management that took place thousands of years ago. During the 20th century, a broader perspective was taken and the hydrological cycle was used to describe the terrestrial and freshwater component of the global water cycle. Data analysis systems and modeling protocols were developed to provide the information needed to efficiently manage water resources. These advances were helpful in defining the water in the soil and the movement of water between stores of water over land surfaces. Atmospheric inputs to these balances were also monitored, but the measurements were much more reliable over countries with dense networks of precipitation gauges and radiosonde observations. By the 1960s, early satellites began to provide images that gave a new perception of Earth processes, including a more complete realization that water cycle components and processes were continuous in space and could not be fully understood through analyses partitioned by geopolitical or topographical boundaries. In the 1970s, satellites delivered quantitative radiometric measurements that allowed for the estimation of a number of variables such as precipitation and soil moisture. In the United States, by the late 1970s, plans were made to launch the Earth System Science program, led by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). The water component of this program integrated terrestrial and atmospheric components and provided linkages with the oceanic component so that a truly global perspective of the water cycle could be developed. At the same time, the role of regional and local hydrological processes within the integrated “global water cycle” began to be understood. Benefits of this approach were immediate. The connections between the water and energy cycles gave rise to the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX)1 as part of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). This integrated approach has improved our understanding of the coupled global water/energy system, leading to improved prediction models and more accurate assessments of climate variability and change. The global water cycle has also provided incentives and a framework for further improvements in the measurement of variables such as soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and precipitation. In the past two decades, groundwater has been added to the suite of water cycle variables that can be measured from space. New studies are testing innovative space-based technologies for high-resolution surface water level measurements. While many benefits have followed from the application of the global water cycle concept, its potential is still being developed. Increasingly, the global water cycle is assisting in understanding broad linkages with other global biogeochemical cycles, such as the nitrogen and carbon cycles. Applications of this concept to emerging program priorities, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Water-Energy-Food (W-E-F) Nexus, are also yielding societal benefits.

scholarly journals Soil texture and environmental conditions influence the biogeochemical responses of soils to drought and flooding

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaizad F. Patel ◽  
Sarah J. Fansler ◽  
Tayte P. Campbell ◽  
Ben Bond-Lamberty ◽  
A. Peyton Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Soil Texture ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Microbial Community Composition ◽  
Soil Response ◽  
Drought And Flood ◽  
Global Water Cycle ◽  
Moisture Conditions ◽  
Chemical Response

AbstractClimate change is intensifying the global water cycle, with increased frequency of drought and flood. Water is an important driver of soil carbon dynamics, and it is crucial to understand how moisture disturbances will affect carbon availability and fluxes in soils. Here we investigate the role of water in substrate-microbe connectivity and soil carbon cycling under extreme moisture conditions. We collected soils from Alaska, Florida, and Washington USA, and incubated them under Drought and Flood conditions. Drought had a stronger effect on soil respiration, pore-water carbon, and microbial community composition than flooding. Soil response was not consistent across sites, and was influenced by site-level pedological and environmental factors. Soil texture and porosity can influence microbial access to substrates through the pore network, driving the chemical response. Further, the microbial communities are adapted to the historic stress conditions at their sites and therefore show site-specific responses to drought and flood.

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