Do We Need Rain?

[RhenMyster]

I'm writing a story and for it, I want to know if rain (or precipitation rather) is necessary for life. If rain is just the cycle (and forgive me for not knowing the true technical terms for this) is just evaporation of the ground water into clouds that cause precipitation back to the ground, then do we really rely on rain? I know crops dry up if it hasn't rained for a long period of time, but if say today was the last day for the rain due to pollution or something, would we be able to survive? Could we not irrigate? Or is it vital for it to rain?

On a further note, what could cause the end of precipitation?

[Dark Mind]

Yes, rain is a necessary stem of life. Especially for inland areas, like the middle of Africa.

We might be able to survive, but not for long, if it stopped raining.

It would take years to irrigate most parts of the world.


The only thing that I can think of that would cause the end of precipitation is the end of water altogether. If we bottled all water on Earth, put the bottles on a rocket ship and fired that rocket into a black hole, then precipitation would end.

By the way, welcome to Hypography!

[RhenMyster]

So, only few parts of the world could be saved? That's interesting.

Another additional question. If water is a combination of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, then couldn't water be formed artificially?

[niviene]

Originally Posted by RhenMyster

So, only few parts of the world could be saved? That's interesting.

Another additional question. If water is a combination of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, then couldn't water be formed artificially?

I distinctly remember this being discussed in another thread here somewhere... sorry to say I can't remember exactly where. Do a little digging.

[Dark Mind]

It would be too slow of a process even if we had the money to keep these "factories" going. It requires a lot of energy to fuse three atoms together. We have trouble enough trying to fuse two in fusion reactors.

I'm just saying what I've heard and learned from people older than I, 16 isn't a very long time to be alive, and consequently not a very long time to learn.

[UncleAl]

Rain is fresh water. All irrigation schemes accumulate salts via evaporation and eventually cause an osmotic crisis in plants. One could desing plants to live in high osmotic pressure environments. That is OK for the sea, but they would still blow out on land by progressive salt accumulation. How could you possibly avoid precipitation on a water planet?

[RhenMyster]

So if technology advanced greatly in the coming years, could water be made artificially? And if so, would it be the same, or would the make-up differ in some way?

[C1ay]

Rain cleans the air as well...

[Fishteacher73]

There are biomes that also generate their own rain (such as the amazon). The trees take up massive ammounts of water then respirate it through stomata, increasing the humidity and helping cycle the rain.

[RhenMyster]

Let me pose another question. Perhaps the evaporation is taking place, but the precipitation is never falling to the ground. Maybe the clouds just are cooling off enough for the rain to form and fall.