The water cycle is the continuous movement of water through the Earth’s atmosphere, surface, and underground reservoirs. It is powered by solar energy and gravity, and it regulates climate, vegetation growth, and soil function.
Evaporation and condensation are the starting points. Solar radiation heats oceans, lakes, and rivers, turning liquid water into vapor. Plants contribute through transpiration, releasing water vapor as a by-product of photosynthesis and stomatal opening. Together, evaporation and transpiration are often grouped as evapotranspiration. This vapor rises, cools, and condenses into clouds, the condensation phase. Once clouds accumulate enough moisture, precipitation occurs in the form of rain, snow, or hail.
When precipitation hits the land surface, several fates are possible. Some water infiltrates into the soil, replenishing groundwater and soil moisture. Some flows overland as surface runoff, feeding streams and rivers. Infiltrated water may be stored in the soil profile, accessible to plant roots, or percolate deeper into aquifers.
Soils play a critical regulatory role in this cycle. Healthy soils with good structure and organic matter act like sponges: they absorb water quickly, reduce runoff and flooding, and slowly release moisture to plants and groundwater. Degraded soils, by contrast, shed water, leading to erosion, flash floods, and drought stress. The water cycle is not only local but also global. Moisture recycled through evapotranspiration influences rainfall patterns even hundreds of kilometers away. For example, forests generate atmospheric rivers of vapor that feed downwind agriculture.
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