As we look at Earth from the vantage point of outer space, we can't but help notice how important water is to Earth's surface. Three quarters of our planet is covered with liquid and frozen water. The land surface is shaped by water's movements. Living things need water for survival.
Water exists as vapor in the atmosphere and is the stuff of clouds.
As a renewable resource, water transforms through three states of matter, solid, liquid, and gas as it cycles from the oceans to the atmosphere, to the land, and back to the oceans. Water and its effects are the dominant features Space Shuttle astronauts see from space. Water is a powerful force of change. Among the most destructive forces of nature, hurricanes and typhoons are driven by the Sun's heat and act as a great pressure relief valve for Earth's atmosphere. At this stage in its life, Hurricane Bonnie has a well developed eye where air currents are relatively calm.