Is the water on the shore renewing itself or is it more or less the same?
In: Physics
I’m not sure what you mean by renewing itself.
But water is water. Unless a comet hits us and gives us some more, we have what we have.
The water from the ocean evaporates and ends up in clouds. Those clouds move inland and rain down on the land, or snow. The rain/snow (after it melts) flows into rivers and lakes, which eventually makes itself back to the Ocean.
Fresh water is renewed by the water cycle. Water evaporates from the ocean into the air. When there’s enough water vapor and/or the humid air cools, it condenses back into liquid water forming clouds. If enough water condenses, the droplets become heavy enough to fall back to the ground as rain or snow. This water accumulates into streams, rivers, and similar waterways, feeding into lakes or back into the ocean. The cycle continues perpetually.
Now, there are some nuances. Some of the water seeps into the ground and can become trapped there for a long time. This is where well water comes from. But ground water renews quite slowly, so it’s possible for people to use water faster than it is renewed, drying up the well. Likewise in regions that experience drought, causing potential problems with water supplies in areas that experience below-average precipitation for extended amounts of time. Thus why these regions encourage water conservation. It’s not that the water will disappear forever, but rather that the currently available water may be depleted faster than it is renewed.
Well yes but actually no, some of it is renewed the other part isn’t. That’s because some is absorbed by the sand and there’s a whole cycle for that (but it’s not very important for this answer), and the other part retreats back and then hits the shore again in which part of it is absorbed while the other part isn’t.
God I’m so bad at explaining but yeah.
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