Question

The short residence time of water in the atmosphere allows a water molecule to have a stronger ability to do which of the following, compared to a situation if the residence time in the atmosphere were larger?

A. acquire potential energy and convert it to kinetic energy
B. participate in the hydrologic cycle
C. erode the surface
D. store and release latent heat
E. All of these.

Answer 1

Answer: B. participate in the hydrologic cycle

Explanation: Residence time of water is the rate of water in a water reservoir such as the ocean or the atmosphere divided by how fast more water is added to it or lost from it.

While residence time is thousands of years in oceans, water in the atmosphere has a short residence time of abut 10 – 11 days. This allows it to participate in the hydrologic cycle which includes evaporation and precipitation. Water in the atmosphere precipitates as snow or rain, returning to other water reservoirs.