Water
hideWater is a ubiquitous chemical substance, composed of hydrogen and oxygen, that is essential for the survival of many known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface. On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation. Saltwater oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes and ponds 0.6%. A very small amount of the Earth's water is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products. Other water is trapped in ice caps, glaciers, aquifers, or in lakes, sometimes providing fresh water for life on land.
Water moves continually through a cycle of evaporation or transpiration (evapotranspiration), precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the sea. Winds carry water vapor over land at the same rate as runoff into the sea. Over land, evaporation and transpiration contribute to the precipitation over land.
Clean, fresh drinking water is essential to human and other lifeforms. Access to safe drinking water has improved steadily and substantially over the last decades in almost every part of the world. There is a clear correlation between access to safe water and GDP per capita. However, some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability. Water plays an important role in the world economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances and facilitates industrial cooling and transportation. Approximately 70 percent of freshwater is consumed by agriculture.
For more information about Water, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with water
INL develops safer, more efficient nuclear fuel for next-gen reactors
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (14) |
5
As the nation ponders its energy choices, Americans keep asking themselves: how can the country make better use of its resources and emit fewer greenhouse gases without hurting U.S. industries? A research ...
Researchers look at water-energy impacts of climate change
4 hours ago |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Climate projections for the next 50 to 100 years forecast increasingly frequent severe droughts and heat waves across the American Southwest, sinking available water levels even as rising mercury drives up ...
Search results for water
Acid test: Study reveals both losers and winners of CO2-induced ocean acidification
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
7 hours ago |
5 / 5 (3) |
4
(PhysOrg.com) -- As the world’s seawater becomes more acidic due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, some shelled marine creatures may actually become bigger and stronger, according to a new study.
A closer look at the Hudson Canyon shows why the canyon is critical for fish
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
7 hours ago |
not rated yet |
1
A series of newly discovered pits in the bottom of the Hudson Canyon, 100 miles southeast of New York Harbor, may be a key ingredient for the abundant and diverse marine ecosystem in and around the canyon, according to research ...
New forensic technique gives clues about sharks from bite damage
9 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Hit-and-run attacks by sharks can be solved with a new technique that identifies the culprits by the unique chomp they put on their victims, according to a University of Florida researcher and shark expert.
Marine aquaculture could feed growing world population
10 hours ago |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
The oceans could become the source of more of humanity's food if steps are taken to expand and improve marine aquaculture, according to a study published in the December 2009 issue of BioScience.
Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants
10 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Broadly speaking, ants have two different feeding strategies. A large proportion of all species are "carnivorous," meaning that they are generalist predators feeding on other small animals or scavenging on ...
A modernized methodology for obtaining new varieties of potato
11 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Research into the potato tuber at the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development and at the NEIKER-Tecnalia Technology Centre has, in recent years, focused on the development of new varieties of potato adapted ...
How did flowering plants evolve to dominate Earth?
12 hours ago |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
2
To Charles Darwin it was an 'abominable mystery' and it is a question which has continued to vex evolutionists to this day: when did flowering plants evolve and how did they come to dominate plant life on earth? Today a study ...
Investigators identify successful weight control strategies for adolescents
15 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Adolescent obesity is a major public health problem that impacts one out of every three children, resulting in 4-5 million overweight youth in the United States. In a study published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of ...
First comprehensive review of the state of Antarctica's climate
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
17 hours ago |
3.1 / 5 (7) |
3
The first comprehensive review of the state of Antarctica's climate and its relationship to the global climate system is published this week by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). The review - Antarctic ...
Childhood lead exposure causes permanent brain damage
17 hours ago |
not rated yet |
1
A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluate brain function revealed that adults who were exposed to lead as children incur permanent brain injury. The results were presented today at the annual ...
List of search results for water
