Earth – the Blue Planet
Earth is a water planet. An astronaut, or an extraterrestrial being, observing our planet from afar, will notice the bluish nature of our planet. From far away planets like Neptune or Uranus, Earth
Earth – the Blue Planet
Earth is a water planet. An astronaut, or an extraterrestrial being, observing our planet from afar, will notice the bluish nature of our planet. From far away planets like Neptune or Uranus, Earth is just a blue bob.
It is blue because 71% of Earth’s surface is covered in water. The seven great oceans; the Indian, the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, the North Pacific, the South Pacific, the Arctic and the Southern Oceans, dominate over the land areas of the seven continents, leaving only a limited amount of space, for the seven billion people on Earth, to roam about in and live in. In addition to the oceans, there are springs, canals, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, and bogs with fresh liquid water, and ice sheets, icecaps, glaciers and icebergs with frozen water.
Abundance of salty H2O and the Scarcity of Clean H2O
Though water is abundant throughout the planet, the problem is the scarcity of fresh, drinkable water. Although 71% of Earth is water, only a surprisingly small 2.5% is fresh water, meaning there is a fierce competition for fresh water in some countries. Since water is a basic necessity, this is not an issue that can be easily thrown aside, or solved because of the scarcity. Almost 70% of the remaining fresh water is solidified in icecaps in the Antarctic and Greenland regions, meaning most of the fresh water is inaccessible for direct use. Only a scarce 1% of fresh water is available for direct human use without making an effort to get to the water source.
Living Beings in Search of Water Sources
This is the reason why people die from lack of water and dehydration in some areas of the world. This is the reason why some women in some regions of developing countries like India and Sri Lanka, walk miles to get to a water source. This is the reason why animals like elephants, hippopotamuses, deer, lions in the plains of Africa, spend time in the vicinity of a water hole during a drought. This is why the Australian government stress so much on preserving water, and utilizing water to the maximum, for a citizen’s daily usage because it is scarce in some areas.
Unfortunately, because of pollution, the available sources of water have become undrinkable in some places. Acidity, higher mercury, lead and metal levels, are the reasons why people buy mineral water bottles, when they travel to an unknown and obscure place. Alkaline water filter Australia, can battle acidity of the water that comes to your house or when you go traveling. It will alkalize, hydrate, oxygenate, revitalize and rejuvenate one’s systems and organs, with its alkaline minerals and other trace minerals. So finding a source of fresh, drinkable water, and making sure it is a clean and unpolluted water source had become a chore of everyone. Battling scarcity is a hard task. As mentioned in the sixth sustainable development goal of 2015; providing clean water and sanitation to every human being, is the responsibility of not only the world leaders, but of us all.