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ERIC Number: EJ1025225
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Dec
Pages: 2
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
Average Annual Rainfall over the Globe
Agrawal, D. C.
Physics Teacher, v51 n9 p540-541 Dec 2013
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 1.74 × 10[superscript 17]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 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 × 10[superscript 16]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.
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://scitation.aip.org/tpt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A