Which natural process moves water from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface?

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Precipitation moves water from the atmosphere to the Earth's surface. In the water cycle, water vapor gathers in the air and cools to form clouds. When the droplets in those clouds grow too large or conditions cause it, they fall to the surface as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. This is the step that returns water from the air back to land and bodies of water, feeding soils, rivers, and lakes. Condensation is the formation of cloud droplets in the air, which happens before precipitation but doesn’t by itself bring water down to the surface. Evaporation is water turning into vapor and rising into the atmosphere from surfaces. Transpiration is water released by plants. The process that directly transfers water from the atmosphere to the surface is precipitation.