EARTH' HYDROSPHERE

Hydrosphere

The hydrosphere is the "water sphere" that includes all the water of the earth system. Water of the hydrosphere is constantly cycling between the various components of the hydrologic cycle .

A hydrosphere ( from Greek ὕδωρ - hydor, "water" and σφαῖρα - sphaira, "sphere") in physical geography

describes the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet.

The total mass of the Earth's hydrosphere is about 1.4 × 1018 tonnes, which is about 0.023% of the Earth's total mass. About 20 × 1012 tonnes of this is in the

Earth's atmosphere (the volume of one tonne of water is approximately 1 cubic metre). Approximately 75% of

the Earth's surface, an area of some 361 million square kilometres (139.5 million square miles), is

covered by ocean. The average salinity of the Earth's oceans is about 35 grams of salt per kilogram of sea

water (35 ‰).

LithosphereThe lithosphere is the solid, rocky crust covering entire planet. This crust is inorganic and is composed of minerals. It covers the entire surface of the earth from the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

HydrosphereThe hydrosphere is composed of all of the water on or near the earth. This includes the oceans, rivers, lakes, and even the moisture in the air. Ninety-seven percent of the earth's water is in the oceans. The remaining three percent is fresh water; three-quarters of the fresh water is solid and exists in ice sheets

BiosphereThe biosphere is composed of all living organisms. Plants, animals, and one-celled organisms are all part of the biosphere. Most of the planet's life is found from three meters below the ground to thirty meters above it and in the top 200 meters of the oceans and seas.

AtmosphereThe atmosphere is the body of air which surrounds our planet. Most of our atmosphere is located close to the earth's surface where it is most dense. The air of our planet is 79% nitrogen and just under 21% oxygen; the small amount remaining is composed of carbon dioxide and other gasses.All four spheres can be and often are present in a single location. For example, a piece of soil will of course have mineral material from the lithosphere. Additionally, there will be elements of the hydrosphere present as moisture within the soil, the biosphere as insects and plants, and even the atmosphere as pockets of air between soil pieces.

The movement of water around, over, and through the Earth is called the water cycle, a key process of the hydrosphere.

hydrosphere, Discontinuous layer of water at or near the Earth’s surface.It includes all liquid and frozen surface waters, groundwater held in soil and rock, and atmospheric water vapour. Virtually all of these waters are in constant circulation through the hydrologic cycle. Although the components of the hydrosphere are undergoing continuous change of state and location, the total water budget remains in balance. The components of the hydrosphere have been seriously affected by the water-polluting activities of modern society.

is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans and groundwater). Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water; and, in almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities.

Raw sewage and industrial waste flows across international borders—New River passes from Mexicalito Calexico, California.

Water pollution has been seriously affecting the life of humans, plants as well as animals. The eco-system of rivers, streams, lakes, seas and oceans is also getting deteriorated due to the contamination of water, through various sources. This condition also leads to the outbreak of numerous diseases, majority of them being lethal and contagious. However, before going about finding a solution to the problem, we need to look into its underlying causes. In the following lines, we have provided information on the causes and harmful effects of water pollution. Go through them and then decide on your course of action.

Sources Of Water Pollution

•Dumping of industrial wastes, containing heavy metals, harmful

chemicals, by-products, organic toxins and oils, into the nearby source

of water is one of the visible causes of water pollution.

•Another cause for the contamination of water is the improper disposal of

human and animal wastes.

•Effluents from factories, refineries, injection wells and sewage treatment plants

are dumped into urban water supplies, leading to water pollution.

•A number of pollutants, both harmful and poisonous, enter the groundwater

systems through rain water.

•The residue of agricultural practices, including fertilizers and pesticides, are

some of the major sources of water pollution.

•Untreated pollutants are drained into the nearest water body, such as stream, lake

or harbor, causing water pollution.

•Another major source of water pollution comprises of organic farm wastes. When

farm land, treated with pesticides and fertilizers, is irrigated, the excess nitrogen and

poisons get mixed into the water supply, thereby contaminating it.

•Pathogens, sediments and chemical pollutants are other sources of water pollution.

•The corporeal wastes produced by humans and farmed organisms pollute rivers,

lakes, oceans and other surface waters.

The world, as we know it, will soon end. No, I'm not talking about the supposed 2012 annihilation of the world that will bring all civilization to an end, but a more long drawn slow process of torment and torture. How else can one explain pollution? Pollution is taking away from us the very basic resources of survival - water, air, peace, food and more. And the only reason this is happening is because we've managed to take everything for granted.

Let's take the instance of water pollution here. There are some who would still turn a deaf ear to the pleas of taking immediate action in order to stop the destruction and pollution. But then there are also those who have understood that that is not the way to go about saving the earth and are doing everything to save what can be saved. They are the ones who are working vehemently towards water pollution prevention. How are they doing that? The following article will tell you all about it and even more on how to prevent water pollution.

That is why freshwater pollution prevention is a leading priority.

Storm Water Pollution Prevention Tips. Never dump dirty water or chemicals

Water pollution has become a big problem in America and other countries around the world. Even though there are strong laws that have been set up as water pollution solutions to help prevent further pollution from taking place, there is still a lot of work to be done. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approximately 40% of lakes, rivers and streams are not safe to fish in or swim in due to water pollution. There are many laws in place that offer water pollution solutions but they are not always effectively enforced. One very simple way to have more effective water pollution solutions would be to enforce the rules that are already in place.Additional water pollution solutions involve reducing nutrient and pesticide pollution by encouraging smarter agricultural practices and using biodynamic farming, no-till planting and settling ponds to reduce the amount of runoff that enters into the ground water and flows into the streams. Another one of the water pollution solutions that may be very effective along these same lines would be to reduce household runoff of pesticides and fertilizers by using less of these chemicals or stopping their use altogether.

Reestablishing wetlands to act as a buffer zone to runoff and to assist in filtering pollutantsDrive less to reduce the amount of air pollution being emitted into the environment and minimize the amount of nitrogen deposition.Improve the sewage treatment system to stop the leaks in the pipes.Conserve waterImprove storm water management.Monitor watershedStop deforestation to soak up the rain water and prevent runoff from occurring.

Individuals can do a lot to help with the water pollution problems and to aid in the water pollution solutions. Buy organic food and green household cleaners and personal care items to prevent the run off of chemical into the ground water. Eliminate as many pharmaceuticals as possible and stay away from meats that are raised using hormones and drugs. It is also important to properly dispose of any old paints and varnishes. Another way to implement water pollution solutions is to use less plastics and plastic products and not to litter. Water pollution solutions are very affordable to put into effect. The United States research Council has estimated that to do an initial clean-up of all the contaminated groundwater in over 300,000 sites across the United States it would cost $1 trillion dollars over the course of thirty years. That would average out to around 33 cents per person per day.