The Importance of Water Resources for life on Earth

Where does all the Earth's water come from? Primordial Earth was an incandescent

globe made of magma, but all magmas contain water. Water set free by magma began

to cool down the Earth's atmosphere, and eventually the environment became cool

enough so water could stay on the surface as a liquid. Volcanic activity kept and still

keeps introducing water into the atmosphere, thus increasing the surface-water and

groundwater volume of the Earth. Water is extremely important for essential function

for life cycle. Water is of major importance of all living things; in some organisms, up to

ninety percent of their body weight is water, up to sixty percent of the human adults

body is water. Humans must consume a certain amount of water to survive. This varies

according to age, gender and location where someone lives.

 Water Properties.

-Water is unique, it is the only natural substance that is found in all three physical

states, liquid, solid and gas. At the temperatures normally found on Earth. Water is

called the universal solvent because it dissolves more substances than any other

liquid. Water takes along valuable chemicals, minerals and nutrients.

-Water becomes a conduct electricity once it starts dissolving substances around it.

-Water has a high specific heat index, It absorbs a lot of heat before begins to get hot,

this is why water is valuable to industries, also helps regulate the rate at which air

changes temperature, which is why the temperature change between seasons is

gradual rather than sudden, specially near the oceans.

-Water is sticky and elastic, and tends to clump together in drops rather than spread

out in a thin film, like rubbing alcohol. Surface tension is responsible for capillary

action which allows water(and it dissolved substances) to move through the roots of

plants and through the tiny vessels in our bodies.

(http://water.usgs.gov/edu/water-facts.html)
 Distribution of Earth's Water

Earths oceans contain 97% of the planets water, so just 3% is fresh water, water with

low concentrations of salts. Most fresh water is trapped as ice in the vast glaciers and

ice sheets of Greenland. A storage location for water such as an ocean, glacier, pond,

or even the atmosphere is known as a reservoir. A water molecule may pass through a

reservoir very quickly or may remain for much longer. The amount of time a molecule

stays in a reservoir is known as its residence time. (www.opengeography.org/ch-8-fresh-

water.html)

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 The Water cycle

The water cycle has no starting point, but we'll begin in the oceans,

since that is where most of Earth's water exists. The sun, which drives

the water cycle, heats water in the oceans. Some of it evaporates as

vapor into the air; a relatively smaller amount of moisture is added as

ice and snow sublimate directly from the solid state into vapor. Rising

air currents take the vapor up into the atmosphere, along with water

from evapotranspiration, which is water transpired from plants and

evaporated from the soil. The vapor rises into the air where cooler

temperatures cause it to condense into clouds.

Air currents move clouds around the globe, and cloud particles collide, grow, and fall

out of the sky as precipitation. Some precipitation falls as snow and can accumulate as

ice caps and glaciers, which can store frozen water for thousands of years. Snowpacks

in warmer climates often thaw and melt when spring arrives, and the melted water

flows overland as snowmelt. Most precipitation falls back into the oceans or onto land,

where, due to gravity, the precipitation flows over the ground as surface runoff.

A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape, with streamflow moving

water towards the oceans. Runoff, and groundwater seepage, accumulate and are

stored as freshwater in lakes.

Not all runoff flows into rivers, though. Much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration.

Some of the water infiltrates into the ground and replenishes aquifers (saturated

subsurface rock), which store huge amounts of freshwater for long periods of time.

Some infiltration stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface-water

bodies (and the ocean) as groundwater discharge, and some groundwater finds

openings in the land surface and emerges as

freshwater springs. Yet more groundwater is absorbed by plant roots to end up as

evapotranspiration from the leaves. Over time, though, all of this water keeps moving,

some to reenter the ocean, where the water cycle begins. (https: water.usgs.gov/edu/

watercyclessummary.html.
 Benefits of drinking water to our bodies

Water is important not only for our bodies to survive but water is extremely important

for agriculture in order to grow our food water is the key to agriculture, industrial,

livestock, mining, public supply, thermoelectric power, domestic use, etc. Some of

most important uses for water is at our homes for indoor and outdoor household

purposes. all the things you do at home: drinking, preparing food, bathing, washing

clothes and dishes, brushing your teeth, waiting the yard and garden, and even

washing the dog.

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Consequences from the Lack of Water

Desertification, land degradation and desertification, no life, no oxygen. Every

living thing on earth would die, since water is a large component of all known

living cells, every plant, animal, fungus, etc. would all desiccate completely, and

crumble to dust. ( as shown on picture below)

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 The lack of water generates poverty, lack of education, development and hunger

in the affected population because, due to the lack of this valuable liquid, it still

generates diseases due to the lack of sanitation and hygiene in certain areas of the

planet where water is scarce. In Utah, although it is a dry place, we have the blessing

of having enough water to meet the needs of the population, but we must take into

account the importance of taking care and protecting our water resources and taking

seriously the importance of making good use of water. we must use water wisely and

not waste water but rather be smart and not wait until it happens here as in many other

countries. In the world where there are water shortages. As if there is much publicity

about health problems caused by smoking as we should have advertising campaigns

inviting to the population to take care of the environment, water, natural resources, to

raise awareness of the need to take care for our planet to avoid many problems in the

future and protect the welfare of the future generations.

The lack of drinking water provoke deterioration of our bodies and prompt to any

disease, because our immune system depend on

water intake to function properly. We can survive

about a month without food only but one week

without water.

(www.medicaldairy.com/search/lack-ondrinkingwater-

deteriorates-human-body-effects-dehydration)
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As shown of the pictures many children helps their families to get the water they need to

survive, stead of just concentrating in school and their studies, play enjoy their childhood as

children in many countries of the world they play a total different roll. Which affect not only

adults but future generations.

(Picture of a drain pipe from El Salvador, waste water draining into clean water river).
 What we can do to protect water resources

Preventive action is the best. Keeping pollution from entering streams, lakes, and other

water sources. Laws help indicate how clean drinking water must be and limit the types

of toxic chemicals that can be released into water.

Buying cleaning products that are nontoxic is another way to improve your areas of

water quality.

*Reducing the amount of fertilizer used on gardens.

*Dont waste water when using at home.

*Turn off tap when brushing your teeth.

*Use wisely when showering take shorter time.

*Water your lawn in the morning.

*Spread awareness among people around you.

*Run dishwasher for only full loads.

*Check your faucets and toilets for leaks.

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(A girl getting water to help her family to carry the water home due to shortage of water in many places in El Salvador)

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 Personal Reflection about the topic.

The main reason I choose this topic of the importance of water resources is because I

went to visit El Salvador in Central America, and I was able to experienced was like to

to live in a place where there is not a reliable water resource and it is sad to see how

people there struggle not only with crime, and social-economic problems, struggle to

obtain the basic to survive, but the limitations of being able to take a good bath any

time you want, because there during the day there is no water, so people have to save

the water in huge plastic container in order to be able to use the water during the timer

there is none., because they rationing water by zones and at different times during the

day, this happens in the whole country. Water is so scarer the even the water pressure

is so low compare to our water pressure her in Utah. This experience let me to reflect

and write about this topic so we can avoid in the future sharing the demise of El

Salvador. These countries besides having socioeconomic issues, crime, poverty, and

other difficulties, they not having the privilege and freedoms to enjoy a nice warm bath

at any time of the day. These facts have made me realize how blessed we are and has

taught me how to appreciate the more simple things in life like having a reliable water

source. (This is a reflection of my own experience during my trip to El Salvador, 2016)

 WORK CITED

http://www.newsgeographic.com

http://www.liscencie.com

http://www.medicaldiary.com/search/lackofdrinkingwater

http://www.water.usgs.gov/edu/cap/orgaction.html

http://www.opengeography.org/ch-4,(www.youtube.com/the story of Earth/video)

http://www.openfeography.org/ch-8-fresh.water.html

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/fresh_water