The sun heats the earth's water. this warm water turns into a vapor, and rises into the atmosphere, where it cools off. what happens to this water vapor? a. the water vapor evaporates and escapes into space. new water is formed by precipitation. b. the water vapor condenses as it cools, then it forms clouds. it later returns to the earth as precipitation. c. the water vapor only rises for a very short time, then settles back into the ocean unnoticed. d. the water vapor pushes clouds out of the way as it rises. this causes overcast conditions to clear.