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Article: The how and why of rain.(The Home Forum)(Kid Space)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- April 25, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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April showers bring May flowers, indeed. But where does rain come from, and where does it go?
Actually, the same water falls as rain again and again. The water we use today was around in Roman times. Earlier, in fact: Dinosaurs may have lapped the water you just brushed your teeth with.
Liquid water evaporates into the atmosphere from oceans, rivers, and puddles. It evaporates from wet laundry drying in the sun. "Evaporate" means "to turn into a vapor, or gas" - water vapor.
The water vapor turns back into a liquid and falls to earth as rain (or snow or sleet or hail), and then evaporates again - over and over. Scientists call this the ...