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Water vapor is an important greenhouse gas [18] [19] owing to the presence of the hydroxyl bond which strongly absorbs in the infra-red. Water vapor is the "working medium" of the atmospheric thermodynamic engine which transforms heat energy from sun irradiation into mechanical energy in the form of winds.
Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas overall, being responsible for 41–67% of the greenhouse effect, [31] [32] but its global concentrations are not directly affected by human activity. While local water vapor concentrations can be affected by developments such as irrigation , it has little impact on the global scale due to its ...
Aerosol of microscopic water droplets suspended in the air above a cup of hot tea after the water vapor has sufficiently cooled and condensed. Water vapor is an invisible gas, but the clouds of condensed droplets refract and scatter the sunlight and are thus visible. Droplets of water vapor in a pan. Demonstration of evaporative cooling.
Humidity depends on the temperature and pressure of the system of interest. The same amount of water vapor results in higher relative humidity in cool air than warm air. A related parameter is the dew point. The amount of water vapor needed to achieve saturation increases as the temperature increases.
Important physical processes within the water cycle include (in alphabetical order): Advection: The movement of water through the atmosphere. [6] Without advection, water that evaporated over the oceans could not precipitate over land. Atmospheric rivers that move large volumes of water vapor over long distances are an example of advection. [7]
The dew point of a given body of air is the temperature to which it must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor. This temperature depends on the pressure and water content of the air. When the air is cooled below the dew point, its moisture capacity is reduced and airborne water vapor will condense to form liquid water known as dew. [1]
Being one of the planet's most significant gases in the atmosphere, water vapor is important to study due to its benefits to climate change. Water vapor absorption mostly occurs in what is called the water vapor continuum, which is a combination of bands and windows that heavily influence radiation in the atmosphere.
Because the amount of water vapor in the air is small, relative humidity, the ratio of the partial pressure due to the water vapor to the saturated partial vapor pressure, is much more useful. Vapor pressure above 100% relative humidity is called supersaturated and can occur if the air is rapidly cooled, for example, by rising suddenly in an ...