CLOUDS AND RAIN

Clouds are white puffy balls that float in the sky. They look
like floating cotton candies. Clouds are made up of water
droplets. These droplets under pressure form clouds. When
the ocean surface becomes hot the water from the ocean
evaporates and becomes clouds in the sky. Once there are
enough droplets, they rain back to the Earth. Some rainwater
is absorbed by the plants and soil but much of the rainwater
finds its way back to the ocean again.

Ocean water is naturally salty but when it vaporizes and rains

back, it will not be salty. Rainwater is fresh water.

While most of the clouds are formed by evaporation, some

clouds are formed by the wind. When warm wind hits the
slope of a tall mountain, the air direction is changed. This
sudden change makes the warm air to cool down and clouds
will form.

Although this cycle can normally be seen in all the places,

each country has different amount of rain each year.
Scientists calculate the rainfall to predict the future rainfall.
This helps farmers and other industries who rely on rain to
prepare themselves for unexpected situations.

Tropical countries like Malaysia, Columbia and others on the

Equator get more rainfall. Cherrapunji in Meghalaya India
receives the highest amount of rainfall every year. Deserts do
not receive rainfall as much as other terrains.

Clouds are important in reflecting the sunlight. Excess

amount of sunlight can be harmful for earth and its beings.
Clouds act as a reflector to bounce back some of the light
from the Sun. Rainwater replenishes the Earth. If there are
no clouds, then there will not be any rainfall to replenish the
freshwater system in Earth. When the clouds hit each other,
they produce thunder and lightning. lightning is used by
humans to create electricity.

In some places, clouds rain hail (ice) or snow. This is because

of the temperature and humidity change in the atmosphere.
Therefore, clouds are very important element in nature to
keep balance of the freshwater system, temperature and
reflecting the sunlight.