Where do the highest rates of evaporation occur (oceans, deserts, polar regions)? Why?

Answer 1

A better question is which latitude has the highest rates of evaporation. The tropics because they get the most energy from the sun. The tropics aren't the hottest climate, record high temperatures are more like around 30 degrees latitude in the desert where there is no water to evaporate..Tropical latitudes are slightly cooler because much of this energy goes into evaporating water rather than heating the surface.

Also...back to your question..this latitude has considerably more ocean surface than land..so ocean is the best answer. Even in other latitudes the ocean would have more evaporation simply because the water surface is there to evaporate. (Your question is about evaporation..not POTENTIAL evaporation, right?...it's a different thing.)

Answer 2

With respect to the availability of water, any warm desert will do. The amount of water available here is relatively low. In fact, it is so low that the rain that falls won't even make it to the ground (known as virga). In this sense, the total amount of water available is immediately evaporated in a way to try to restore equilibrium to the environment (which never occurrs outside of geological time frames).

With respect to potential evaporation, a warm body of fresh water under ideal conditions (low atmospheric water vapor, breeze, etc.) will allow for the most evaporation due to the abundance of water.

Polar regions generally have the lowest evaporation rates even though they're covered in ice. This is due to the cold and also to the water vapor capacity of the cold air. The evaporation that does occur here is controlled by the water vapor pressure gradient from the surface of the ice/snow and the atmosphere the surface is in contact with.

In conclusion, warm deserts provide the highest rates of evaporation due to the low availability of water and dry conditions. Of all the water that they have, most, if not all, of it is evaporated. If this were to occur over an ocean, we would be in trouble!

Answer 3

Might be ocean. Coz there is a vast area of water exposed to the air and directly exposing to sun and wind. Evaporation could be high in desert if they have much water. Since they don't, I'd say ocean.

Answer 4

Predominately the oceans. They can soak up the most heat, which is what is needed to power evaporation, and the irregularity of the surface and air mixing above it due to wave action allows the most air to interact with the water.

Answer 5

The highest rates of evaporation would be places with more abundances of water for there to be evaporation: rivers, lakes, and oceans......

Answer 6

it might usually take place in hot places like deserts because of the heat. this is why there is hardly any water in a desert.
evaporation may also take place in wet places such as seas and oceans where there are lots of water. hope this information is useful :)