Evaporation:

Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns it into vapor
or steam. The water vapor or steam leaves the river, lake or ocean and goes into the air.

Do plants sweat?

Well, sort of.... People perspire (sweat) and plants transpire. Transpiration is the process by
which plants lose water out of their leaves. Transpiration gives evaporation a bit of a hand in
getting the water vapor back up into the air.

Condensation:

Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called
condensation.

You can see the same sort of thing at home... Pour a glass of cold water on a hot day and watch
what happens. Water forms on the outside of the glass. That water didn't somehow leak through
the glass! It actually came from the air. Water vapor in the warm air, turns back into liquid when
it touches the cold glass.
Precipitation:

Precipitation occurs when so much water has condensed that the air cannot hold it anymore. The
clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow.

Collection:

When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it
may end up on land. When it ends up on land, it will either soak into the earth and become part
of the ground water that plants and animals use to drink or it may run over the soil and collect
in the oceans, lakes or rivers where the cycle starts
FAMILY
This article reviews the way in which smoking impacts the family including the
health of the fetus, infants and children, and reviews the interaction between the
family and adolescent smoking patterns. Exposure to active smoking and passive
smoking has significant and lifelong effects on the fetus including cognitive
development. Widespread exposure to passive smoking increases asthma, chest
infections and a range of other health risks. Parental smoking increases risks to the
health of children during infancy and childhood, as well as the likelihood of
adolescent experimentation and regular smoking. The influence of family function
and family home rules are reviewed and the way in which quitting by parents,
parental rules and a smoke-free home policy can influence adolescent smoking
patterns. The article concludes with core recommendations, including for paediatric
medical practice, that if implemented are likely to significantly impact future
societal trends in smoking.

Smoking pollutes the air, litters our streets, water, and results in accidental ingestion by
small animals and children. Cooperation is needed in order to lessen this impact, and
restore the planet to health.

Ever since the Surgeon Generals first report on smoking in 1964, Americans have become more
and more educated on the various forms of heart disease, lung disease and cancers smoking can
create. It is also common knowledge that smoking causes discoloration of fingernails and teeth
as well as other cosmetically damaging effects.

Worldwide, tobacco causes 5 million deaths annually, according to the World Health
Organization. However, one of the most overlooked issues smoking creates is the damaging
impact the use, and subsequent discarding of cigarettes, has on the environment.

Generally, the public is well aware that second-hand smoke is very dangerous. According to the
CDC, second-hand smoke contains carcinogens, toxic metals and poisonous gases. While all of
these substances obviously have adverse effects on human health, they also affect our
environment as well. Second-hand smoke goes into our atmosphere and degrades air quality. The
CDC also reports that a collection of experiments demonstrated that levels of respirable
suspended particulates (RSPs) decreased by up to 96% in public spaces that banned smoking.
This substantive improvement in air quality is not only for the sake of health, but a sustainable
ecology as well.

Smoking pollutes the air, but the damage to the environment does not stop there. Discarded
cigarette butts frequently litter public streets and entryways. Cigarettes are the most common
individual item of litter. As reported by the New York Times, it is so prevalent that the city of San
Francisco applies a 20 cent tax on cigarette purchases to help cover the $10.7 million the city
spends every year on removing cigarette butts from public spaces.
The biggest issue concerning discarded cigarette butts is accidental consumption by children or
small animals. Studies show that household pets or other small animals that make the mistake of
ingesting cigarette litter may suffer tremors, vomiting, respiratory failure and even death. The
sight of cigarettes disappearing into a storm drain may ease the guilt of a litterer, but those
cigarettes often find their way into bodies of water, and subsequently, the stomachs of marine
wildlife. According to a report from ANR, cigarette butts are also a hazard to infants and
toddlers. The American Association of Poison Control Centers received 7,310 reports of
potentially toxic tobacco product exposure cases in 2008. Just one cigarette butt is dangerous,
and a whole cigarette may be lethal if ingested. Although the general public may not immediately
recognize it, cigarettes are toxic waste and need to be disposed of properly.

Aiming Toward a Greener Planet

Cigarette disposal is a complex issue that requires effort from both smokers and non-smokers
alike. Ideally, this issue would best be solved by reducing the number of people who smoke.

While more and more people are quitting, the placement of ashtrays and cigarette disposal bins
in designated smoking areas will help curb pollution. In fact, the most common reason smokers
give for littering is simply the lack of having an acceptable location to discard cigarettes.
However, smokers must ultimately realize that part of the responsibility associated with their
habit is the safe disposal of used cigarettes.

Community Impact

RESIDENTIAL-RELATED PROBLEMS

Adolescents residing in low-income public housing developments in inner-city regions may be

particularly vulnerable to a variety of risk factors associated with cigarette smoking.

BUSINESS-RELATED PROBLEMS

Tougher penalties and fines are established for underage smoking (see New York State
Laws/Pending Legislation).

Raising cigarette taxes reduces smoking, especially among kids (and the Cigarette Companies
Know It). The cigarette companies have opposed tobacco tax increases by arguing that raising
cigarette prices would not reduce adult or youth smoking. But the companies internal
documents, disclosed in the tobacco lawsuits, show that they know very well that raising
cigarette prices is one of the most effective ways to prevent and reduce smoking, especially
among kids.

Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs in New York City are smoke-free establishments.Public Spaces
in New York City covered by the Smoking Ban will go into effect May 23, 2011. Smoking will
be prohibited in all New York City parks except median strips; Beaches and boardwalks; Public
golf courses; Sports stadium grounds; playgrounds, pools and inside stadiums

SCHOOL-RELATED PROBLEMS

Tobacco and Nicotine

Nicotine, the main drug in tobacco, is one of the most heavily used addictive drugs in the United
States. In 2008, 28.4 percent of the U.S. population 12 and older used tobacco at least once in the
month prior to being interviewed. This figure includes 3.6 million young people age 12 to 17.
Young adults aged 18 to 25 reported the highest rate of current use of any tobacco products (44.6
percent) in 2008. Most of them smoked cigarettes.

(Source: The AntiDrug.com)

Tobacco use in middle school students

The most recent numbers on tobacco use among U.S. middle school students come from a 2009
survey by the CDC. (Middle school includes children in grades 6, 7, and 8.)

More than 8% of middle school students reported using some form of tobacco --
cigarettes, spit or other oral tobacco, cigars, pipes, and flavored cigarettes like bidis or
kreteks -- at least once in the past 30 days.

Over 5% of the students had smoked cigarettes, and 4% had smoked cigars. About 3%
had used spit or other smokeless tobacco. Around 2% had smoked pipes and the same
number had smoked bidis (about 2%). A little over 1% had smoked kreteks.

Boys (about 10%) were more likely than girls (about 7%) to use some form of tobacco.
Unlike previous years, boys were more likely to smoke cigarettes as well as use
smokeless tobacco, bidis, kreteks, pipes, or cigars.

Tobacco use in high school students

The most recent tobacco numbers for high school students come from the 2009 CDC Youth Risk
Behavior Survey and other CDC surveys. Keep in mind that these studies are done with students
that are still in school. Those who drop out have higher rates of smoking and tobacco use.

Nationwide, about 26% of high school students reported using some type of tobacco
(cigarette, cigar, pipe, bidi, kretek, or smokeless tobacco) on at least 1 of the 30 days
before the survey.
 On average, about 1 out of 5 students (20%) smoked cigarettes. Girls were almost as
likely to smoke as boys. White students (23%) were more likely to smoke than black
(10%), or Hispanic/Latino (18%) students.

About 14% of high school students had smoked cigars in the last 30 days. Male students
(19%) were more likely to smoke cigars than female students (9%).

About 9% of high school students reported using spit or other smokeless tobacco at least
once in the 30 days before the survey. About 15% of all the boys and more than 2% of all
the girls surveyed had used some form of smokeless tobacco.

In a 2007 survey, 61% of all the high school students who reported that they smoked or
had smoked in the past had tried to quit at least once during the year before, but only 12%
were successful.

Other tobacco use among high school students included pipes (about 2%), bidis (about
2%), and kreteks (about 1%). (Source: American Cancer Association - Last Medical
Review: 11/17/2010)