Water leaking into space

I was thinking about how everything seems to be drier than it used to be. We have not gotten a good amount of snow or rain in a long time.

Is our water vapor leaking through the hole in the ozone?

reply to post by MrBigDave


the uk have seen the wettest summer in 100 years in 2012 and not much difference this year so far

reply to post by MrBigDave


Sorta sounds like a dumb question but I wonder... The earth's water cycle definitely has been disrupted - and while some places are experiencing the opposite of drought (heavy precipitation and flooding) I recall reading that our fresh water IS disappearing and not being "recycled."

some places are wetter this year some places are drier, I think the weather patterns have been disrupted somehow or maybe this is just a normal long term weather cycle.
There seems to be plenty of water in the oceans, people keep claiming the ocean level is raising.

Originally posted by MrBigDave
I was thinking about how everything seems to be drier than it used to be. We have not gotten a good amount of snow or rain in a long time.

Is our water vapor leaking through the hole in the ozone?

edit on 14-2-2013 by MrBigDave because: my bad

50% more snow this year compared to last year.

reply to post by MrBigDave


DUH.....

That's where the aliens come to our planet through.....That hole in the ozone I mean....

Everybody knows that......../sarcasm

Originally posted by MrBigDave
I was thinking about how everything seems to be drier than it used to be. We have not gotten a good amount of snow or rain in a long time.

Is our water vapor leaking through the hole in the ozone?

edit on 14-2-2013 by MrBigDave because: my bad

Brief answer: no.

Longer answer: 99% of our water vapor is in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere. If any molecules (which are heavier than plain oxygen (02) because they have an attached hydrogen atom) get into the stratosphere, they usually get ionized.

So, water vapor is so heavy that 99% of it never makes it as far as the ozone layer.

reply to post by MrBigDave


More...



Our Planets Disappearing Drinking Water

World Water Day Pictures: Epic Disappearing Acts

Middle Eastern fresh water disappearing fast

The Middle East has lost fresh water reserves equivalent to the entire Dead Sea over the last ten years, data from NASA satellites shows.

Feedback Loops: The Basic Problem

Human consumption of water and interaction with the water cycle both contribute to water stress in a complex dynamic that has resulted in environmental damage and risks to human security.

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Brief answer: no.

Longer answer: 99% of our water vapor is in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere. If any molecules (which are heavier than plain oxygen (02) because they have an attached hydrogen atom) get into the stratosphere, they usually get ionized.

So, water vapor is so heavy that 99% of it never makes it as far as the ozone layer.

While your conclusion is correct, your chemistry is way off. Diatomic oxygen(O2), the natural state in which most oxygen exists has a molecular weight of 31.88 +/- 0.0008 grams/mol.. Water vapor (H2O) has a molecular weight of 15.83 g/mol. So, water vapor is about half the weight of diatomic oxygen. I'm guessing you got confused about the chemical formula for water and were thinking of HO2, which does exist in the atmosphere as a hydroperoxl radical, an important atmospheric cleansing agent.
The real reason that water vapor exists in the troposphere and not higher is that the adiabatic lapse rate results in saturation and precipitation as the air gets cooler. Each pound of dry air today in Miami (60% humidity) can carry 159 grams of water vapor. At 15,000 feet, it is down to about 14 grams water vapor per pound of air.At 39,000 over Miami today, the temperature is -65F. At that temperature the water vapor load carrying ability is almost 0. At an average, the ozone layer is at about 75,000 feet. So water vapor would condense or freeze and fall to earth long before it gets there.

In addition to all the informative replies posted here.

The hole is the ozone has gotten smaller lately.
Ozone Layer Is On The Road To Recovery
Is the hole in the ozone closing?
Ozone hole shrinks to record low

Smallest it's been in ten years.

Perhaps there's an outside influence...
Remember in the miniseries "V" what the aliens were here for?

The true purpose of the Visitors' arrival on Earth was to conquer and subdue the planet, steal all of the Earth's water, and harvest the human race as food, leaving only a few as slaves and cannon fodder for the Visitors' wars with other alien races.

reply to post by MrBigDave

[color=A6DBFF]The Earth is pretty much a "closed system," like a terrarium. That means that the Earth as a whole, neither gains nor loses much matter, including water.

....very little of Earth's substances escape into outer space. This is certainly true about water.

This means that the same water that existed on Earth millions of years ago is still here. Thanks to the water cycle, the same water is continually being recycled all around the globe.


ga.water.usgs.gov...

This↓ may not actually be relevant for this specific topic. It is something that I had forgotten about, until now. I just think that it's quite interesting.(even though it is difficult to believe)

[color=87B1CF]The drawings below show various blue spheres representing relative amounts of Earth's water in comparison to the size of the Earth. Are you surprised that these water spheres look so small? They are only small in relation to the size of the Earth.

These images attempt to show three dimensions, so each sphere represents "volume." Overall, it shows that in comparison to the volume of the globe the amount of water on the planet is very small - and the oceans are only a "thin film" of water on the surface.



[color=A6DBFF]Large Sphere = ALL of Earth's water
Medium Sphere = Earth's liquid fresh water
Tiny Sphere= Water in lakes and rivers

ga.water.usgs.gov...

I thought it was the aliens from V that were stealing our water! LoL

Good question Mr Big Dave, I am glad tha answer seems to be no. In Australia we had the wettest two years on record 2010/2011. The north east of the country is still sodden and has just had huge floods again, but the south east has been in drought for the last 5 months. Where I am we have had only 1 mm (1/25 inch) of rain in the last 5 months!

reply to post by BrokenCircles


That graphic of all the liquid water on earth has always puzzled me. It seems much too small, especially the fresh water and river water. It looks like if the bubbles broke and the water spread out it would fill a little bit of space in the United States and that's all. How can those bubbles represent all the fresh water in the world?

about 7000 liters goes into space yearly

I'm in Illinois and we have been very dry for several years, hopefully this year will bring some serious precip!