Human impact on the water cycle: farming practices, land use change and water abstraction
Humans change how water moves through the environment. Farming, building on land and extracting water from rivers or underground all disrupt the natural water cycle.
Real World
The Aral Sea in Central Asia shrank to just 10% of its 1960 volume by 2014 because the Soviet Union diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for cotton irrigation, massively increasing evapotranspiration and cutting inflow to the lake.
Exam Focus
For 'assess' questions, evaluate both the scale and reversibility of each human impact — examiners expect a justified judgement, not just a list.
Essay Framework
Use PEEL to structure every paragraph. Tap each step for guidance and an example.
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