Question

How would increasing the proportion of land (sand) to water affect the amount of water vapor released?

Answer 1

Water is continually flowing among the oceans, land, and atmosphere (Figure 5.1). Annually, approximately 496 100 km3 of water leaves the atmosphere as precipitation. [ The same amount of water is returned to the atmosphere annually as evaporation so that the amount of water in the atmosphere does not change over time. Although Earth as a whole balances water, oceans and land differ in
precipitation and evaporation. Approximately 385 000 km3 of water falls over the oceans annually as precipitation. Some 424 700 km3 of water returns to the atmosphere each year via evaporation, resulting in an annual imbalance of 39 700 km3 of water. Over land, precipitation exceeds evaporation. ]