Introduction
This old fashioned water pump is the only way to get water at Upper Chatanika State Recreation Area in Alaska. Back in the “good old days” this is how towns or houses accessed water. In the U.S., these pumps only remain at hunting cabins and some rural state and federal campgrounds. (Alaska Department of Labor).
Humans have a much improved relationship with water and air compared to a hundred years ago. Next time you are having a bad day just be happy you don’t have to walk outside of your house or apartment to an outhouse. Marvel at the fact that you can turn a knob at your sink and water magically appears. Take a deep breath and feel satisfied that our government regulates air quality, and the air isn’t so dirty that it forms a cloud of dirt over the city. If you are having a really bad day, just be happy you didn’t live 20,000 years ago, when Indianapolis was covered with thousands of feet of glacial ice.
So far we’ve covered the following Earth resources: rocks, minerals, and soil. In this section we’ll cover two other important resources: the hydrosphere and atmosphere. Our hydrosphere and atmosphere are important resources that regulate the shape of the Earth's surface and the adaptation and development of ecosystems. Our atmosphere and hydrosphere produces the weather that rain, wind, snow, and ice that sculpt landforms.
In this section, we will examine the water cycle, groundwater, glaciers, and the atmosphere. Your textbook will cover the water cycle and groundwater in detail. I will cover glaciers and atmosphere in more detail in this lecture. We will discuss rivers and surface water in more detail in another lecture.