| Water has been on Earth since the planet first formed, about 4.6 billion years ago. Water was part of the small solid chunks and dust particles that came together under gravitational pressure to form the Earth, but the heat during formation was so intense that liquid water on Earth did not appear until the planet had cooled considerably, a few hundred million years later. At that point the cooler temperatures allowed the water to condense out of the atmosphere and caused a rainy period that probably lasted for millions of years. Additionally, the Earth’s volcanic action plus collisions with many icy comets brought more water to the planet’s surface and filled the basins to create the oceans that now cover about 71% of the Earth’s surface.
Here are some quick facts about water on Earth. Pure water is odorless, tasteless, and colorless and is the only substance that exists naturally on Earth in the three physical states of solid, liquid, and gas simultaneously. The oceans contain 97% of the planet’s water, with 2% locked up in glacier ice, and 1% available as fresh water. Each day roughly 70 cubic miles of water evaporates into the atmosphere and returns back to Earth’s surface somewhere in the form of rain, snow, hail, dew, frost, or fog. About three feet of water falls on each square foot of land in a year, with about two feet of this evaporating back into the atmosphere, while about six inches flows back into the seas, and the remaining six inches seeps into the earth’s surface.
Water is an amazing substance and is important to Earth for many reasons. For one, all life on the planet is nourished by water. Consider that a person’s body is 70% water, about 100 pounds for the average 150 pound person, while tomatoes contain about 95% water, chickens about 75%, and frogs about 80%. Additionally, water sculpts the Earth’s surface through erosion. Flowing water and falling water will erode away the hardest substances on earth, given enough time. Due to its chemical activity even sitting water will dissolve away any substance over time, molecule by molecule. It is the ultimate solvent. Also, water distributes heat around the globe. Since the beginning of the solar system the Sun now creates three times as much energy as it did originally, yet the Earth’s temperature is kept relatively constant by the cooling action of water. Ocean currents transfer gigantic amounts of heat energy around the globe constantly, helping to keep the Earth’s average temperature in the narrow range necessary to support life.
Here are a few more amazing facts about water. Water is an incredibly strong molecule, thanks to its chemical bonds and its unusual bonding angle of 104.5 degrees between the two hydrogen atoms. It takes the heat energy of at least 2900 degrees Celsius through electrolysis to separate water into free hydrogen and oxygen. As a result most water molecules on Earth have been on the planet since the Earth was created some 4.6 billion years ago. Water is a combination of two atoms of hydrogen, a combustible gas, and one atom of oxygen, a gas that supports combustion, yet together the water molecule quenches fire. Water has the unusual and amazing physical property that it begins to expand at a temperature just above freezing. All other molecules continue to contract as the temperature decreases. The result is that by the time water reaches its freezing point it has expanded by about 11%. The brilliance of this fact is that it has decreased its density and as ice will float on top of liquid water. If the opposite were true and ice would sink, then Earth’s lakes, rivers, and oceans would freeze from the bottom up, killing all living creatures within. With all water locked up as ice, with no heat transfer around the globe, the Earth would lapse into an ice age that would last forever.
Happily, water is what it is. It’s an incredible substance that nourishes all life on Earth and helps to keep the Earth in just the right temperature range. Water shapes the Earth’s surface and makes it the distinct and unique planet that is home. Water is also an incredible healer for mankind’s physical body ailments. It has been found that often our ailment is merely our body screaming out for water, plain clean water. Try it next time you are feeling a little off drink at least 2 litres of water, 4 is even better. See if your body recovers quite quickly for you.
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Thank you for visiting I hope you found this water article of value and benefit.
Wishing you all the best of health.
Cheers Jim.
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