According to the bible’s book of Genesis, before the great flood, the earth had a different hydrologic cycle.
Instead of rain,[1]
“… a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.” (Genesis 2:6, NASB)
Description of the Water Vapor Canopy in Genesis Before the Great Flood:
On the second day of creation the bible records:
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
7 God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were below the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so.
8 God called the expanse “heaven.” (Genesis 1:6-8, NASB)
This passage makes it clear that there were two bodies of water, and,
“… in the midst of the waters,” (Genesis 1:6, NASB)
or between the waters, there is an expanse which God called heaven. Some may be wondering what an “expanse” is?
The Cambridge dictionary describes an expanse as a
“… a large, open area of land, water, or sky …”
In the case of the expanse or heaven, found in Genesis 1:6-8, it is referring to the sky.
On the Fifth Day of Creation:
20 Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” (Genesis 1:20, NASB)
In other words, the birds were to fly above the earth in the open sky just like they do today. Yet unlike today, in the upper atmosphere there were waters, not clouds. But an immense canopy of water vapor that protected the earth from the sun’s harmful radiation and provided for a more uniform climate.
Because this canopy acted as a blanket, keeping the earth’s temperature uniform, there were no ice caps on the north and south poles;[2] the poles were covered in subtropical vegetation, like the rest of the earth.[3]
Then the day came when the water in the water vapor canopy fell upon the earth in the form of rain, possibly from volcanic activity, which threw dust high up in the atmosphere acting as condensation nuclei for the water vapor to condense on.[4]
Before the Great Flood:
The water vapor canopy acted like a closed terrarium.[5]
During the heat of the day the earth’s atmosphere became saturated with water vapor, then as the temperature cooled at night, the ground and surrounding vegetation became covered with dew:
“Most objects, including grass blades, leaves, and petals, are much better radiators than air and, as a result, are usually colder at night than is the air. The cold surface cools the air in its vicinity, and, if the air contains sufficient atmospheric humidity, … water vapour will condense out of the air onto the surface.”[6]
The Great Flood, Conclusion:
During the great flood of Noah’s day, the rain fell for forty days and forty nights.[5]
Because the water vapor canopy that acted as a blanket over the whole earth was now breaking down, the overall temperature of the earth decreased. Due to the lack of sunshine on the north and south poles, the earth became colder in the polar regions. And when the rain fell on the polar caps the rain ended up freezing, covering the once subtropical polar terrains in ice.
Without the water vapor canopy in place, earth’s hydrologic cycle changed to a cloud-based system:
“It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud.” (Genesis 9:14, NASB)
This change in the earth’s hydrologic cycle resulted in clouds, rain, and rainbows, which were never seen before the great flood:
“God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.’” (Genesis 9:12-13, NASB)
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Endnotes:
[1] “Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.” (Genesis 2:5-6, NASB)
[2] “Modern-day Antarctica hardly brings beaches and sunshine to mind. But according to new research, the continent and its surroundings used to be a much balmier place. … Antarctica’s climate resembled the modern-day Californian coast, while nearby polar islands were more akin to Florida … exceptionally warm.” (Antarctica Was Once As Warm As Sunny California, Rachel Nuwer April 22, 2014, Smithsonian MAGAZINE)
[3] “Palmer writes that in this much-warmer Antarctica, ‘the lowland coastal region sported palm trees, while slightly inland, hills were populated with beech trees and conifers.’” (Ancient Climate Change Meant Antarctica Was Once Covered with Palm Trees, Colin Schultz, August 2, 2012, Smithsonian MAGAZINE)
[4] “Condensation nuclei, such as particles of dust or smoke, are essential for precipitation. They provide a surface for water vapor to condense upon, allowing water droplets to gather together and become large enough to fall to the earth as rain.” (Bing search/condensation/nuclei)
[5] “A closed terrarium is a complete mini-ecosystem in a bottle or jar (usually a glass storage jar). Closed terrariums can be entirely self-sufficient if set up correctly; some have not been opened for decades and are still thriving today.
The closed terrarium water cycle mimics that found in nature. Once water is added to the terrarium and the lid closed, it becomes continually recycled. Water droplets form inside the glass container due to condensation and the plants giving off water through their pores (stomates) during photosynthesis. Water then runs down the jar into the soil, and the process repeats.” (A Closed Terrarium, blueworldgardener.co.uk)
[5] “The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.” (Genesis 7:12, NASB)
[6] Dew Meteorology: “dew, deposit of waterdrops formed at night by the condensation of water vapour from the air onto the surfaces of objects freely exposed to the sky. It forms on clear nights when the air is calm or, preferably, when the wind is light.” (dew meteorology, britannica.com/science/dew)