Average Annual Rainfall Over the Globe

• Autores: D.C Agrawal
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 51, Nº. 9, 2013, págs. 540-541
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The atmospheric recycling of water is a very important phenomenon on the globe because it not only refreshes the water but it also redistributes it over land and oceans/rivers/lakes throughout the globe. This is made possible by the solar energy intercepted by the Earth. The half of the globe facing the Sun, on the average, intercepts 1 1.74×1017 J of solar radiation per second and it is divided over various channels as given in Table 1. It keeps our planet warm and maintains its average temperature 2 of 288 K with the help of the atmosphere in such a way that life can survive. It also recycles the water in the oceans/rivers/ lakes by initial evaporation and subsequent precipitation; the average annual rainfall over the globe is around one meter. According to M. King Hubbert the amount of solar power going into the evaporation and precipitation channel is 4.0×1016 W. Students can verify the value of average annual rainfall over the globe by utilizing this part of solar energy. This activity is described in the next section.