What surrounds us everywhere? That’s right – water! Indeed, they cover a much larger part of the Earth’s surface than land, and without water, the existence of life on our planet would be impossible. It serves as the basis for everything, both for plant and animal life, and it is believed that for the first time the simplest microorganisms originated in the water column. It is possible, of course, that in other conditions there would be life on a different basis, without water, but modern science, at least, is not yet known for certain.
Interesting facts about water
- Scientists suggest that water appeared on Earth from space. Comets rich in ice collided with our planet and left their “wet trail” on it. This phenomenon is called cometary bombardment.
- There are about 1.5 billion cubic kilometers of water on Earth. That’s about 800 trillion Olympic swimming pools.
- Azerbaijan has water that’s high in methane, so it can catch fire if you put a match on it. And in Sicily, in one of the lakes, there are underwater sources of acid that poison all the water in this reservoir (interesting facts about acids).
- Scientists have established 2000 structured varieties of water, which may differ in origin, volume and type of compounds dissolved in it, and other factors.
- A person can live without water for no more than 2-3 days.
- The cause of dehydration can be not only physical activity, but also overeating.
- Sea water freezes at approximately -1.91°C, but the exact value also depends on its degree of salinity.
- If the human body loses more than 10% of water, it can lead to death.
- During the day, up to 75 liters of water can “float” into the pipe from a dripping tap.
- More than 80% of wastewater is not recycled. This is a very uneconomical use of the water resources we have.
- There is water on the Sun, and so much that every day our luminary burns it in a volume of about a trillion tons.
- The composition of the Earth’s mantle contains 10-12 times more water than the oceans.
- Of all liquid water, only about 3% is fresh, the remaining 97% is salty (interesting facts about the hydrosphere).
- The largest cloud of water vapor has been discovered by NASA scientists near a black hole 12 billion light-years from Earth. It contains 140 trillion times more water than the world’s oceans.
- Water has the highest heat capacity of any liquid in nature.
- According to UNESCO, the purest water is in Finland. A total of 122 countries took part in the study of fresh natural water.
- About 1 billion people on Earth do not have access to clean, drinkable water at all.
- Hot water freezes and turns into ice faster than cold water. There is still no explanation for this phenomenon.
- Adult man consists of 60-70% of water.
- Most liquids when freezing, they decrease in volume, while water, on the contrary, expands.
- Antarctica has been completely covered with ice for more than 30 million years (interesting facts about Antarctica).
- Ideally pure water without impurities freezes not at 0 degrees, but at a lower temperature, down to -42 degrees.
- We know about 3 different states of water (liquid, gaseous and solid). Contrary to this opinion, scientists distinguish 5 states in the liquid form of water, as well as 14 states in solid form.
- About 85% of diseases in the world are transmitted through water.
- Scientists have found that those people who drink about six glasses of water a day are less likely to have a heart attack than those who drink only two glasses.
- In a lifetime, the average person drinks about 35 tons of water.
- In the last 50 years, there have been 507 conflicts around the world related to access to water. 21 of them ended in hostilities.
- Water is transparent only to visible rays, but it actively absorbs infrared radiation.
- The world ocean occupies 71% of the Earth’s surface, while it is a powerful softener climate of our planet, constantly heating the lower layers of the atmosphere.
- Every continent now has its own “dead” river, which has become unsuitable for any use at all due to man-made pollution.
- Sea water is a very nutritious substance. In 1 cu. cm of such water contains 1.5 g of protein and other substances. Scientists estimate that the Atlantic Ocean alone has a nutritional value of 20,000 harvests a year all over the land (interesting facts about the Atlantic Ocean).
- About two-thirds of the water used at home, consumed in the bathroom and toilet.
- If all the glaciers melted, the water level on our planet would rise by 64 meters, and about 15% of all land would be flooded with water.
- Polluted groundwater purify themselves, but this takes a long time, at least several millennia.
- More than 135 isotopic varieties of water are known. In addition to “living”, “dead”, there is “heavy”, “slippery”, “dry” and “rubber” water.