Chatterbox: Down to Earth

I just finished reading a book called 'One Well'. It's the story of water on Earth. It was really good and it talked all about how important water is and how we need to conserve it. 

As I'm sure you all know, the Earth is 70 percent water, but something fascinating I picked up is that there is more water in the atmoshphere and soil than there is in Earth's rivers. 

One of things that really got me thinking was to look at the water you're about to drink when you go to drink it. The water goes through the water cycle of course, evaporation, condensation, and precipitation which means the water could have evaporated from anywhere. It could have once rained somewhere half-way across the world, it could have been the same water that blew out of a whale's blowhole. Not to mention history! That water you go to drink could have been in the same river that a dinosaur drank out of!

Plants are also helpfull for water. When it rains, plants take any chemicals that may be in the water. Plants also depend on the water for spreading their seeds. They can drift in the sea for months and then grow 1,000 miles away from the orginal tree.  Plants you eat, such as tomatoes and apples have a high percentage of water also. Water gives plants their shape and form, and without water, plants would shrivel up. 

Animals need water to live, too. Water has many benefits for the animals and you. Water carried nutrients to us, helps indigestion, removes waste, controls temperature, cleans eyes, oils joints. Many animals live in the water, too. Fish, crabs, shrimp, and zooplankton are very important in the food chain. Animals also play a very big roles for the water cycle. They add water to the atmosphere by sweating, panting, peeing, and drooling. Animal life even began in the water. 

Even though our Earth is 70% water, we can't get to all that water. Some people, like people who live in Africa, don't have enough water and even people who do can't use that water for all their needs. Most of the water on Earth is salt water. 3% is freshwater. Only 3%. Most of that freshwater (99% specifically) is frozen into glaciers, in the atmosphere, or underground. We have access to less than 1% of it. 

Think about the number of people in the world. About, (now folks, I said ABOUT so no certain numbers) 6,563,107,901 people. So imagine how hard it is to meet all those people's demand for the water. Let alone animals. Animals all over the world every day drink more than 160,000 tanker trucks full of water. 

We also need to worry about polution. Waste from all the factories, agriculture, and homes is getting into the water. Pesticides, fertilizers, and detergents run into our streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Almost 80% of all sicknesses in the world are caused by bad water. Water dissolves more things than any other liquid so in nature, water is never pure. It always has something dissolved in it. 

There is one thing we can do. We can become Well Aware, as the book calls it. Which means learning how to conserve water and protect it. Here are some things you can do:

-Walk more and drive less (car exhaust pollutes the air)

-Organizing shoreline cleanups (keeps trash from entering lakes, rivers streams)

-Planting trees (anchors the soil so that it doesn't wash into waterways and make them muddy)

-Join organziations for protecting water

-Turning off the water while scrubbing your hands and brushing your teeth

-Running the dishwasher and washing machine only when full

-Asking your parents to fix leaky faucets

-Collecting rainwater to water the plants in your garden or home

-Watering your lawn only when it needs it and only in the early morning or evening when less water will evaporate. 

DOING THESE THINGS CAN SAVE UP TO 2650 US GALLONS OF WATER A YEAR.

And last but not least: SHARE  WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED. THE MORE PEOPLE TAKE CARE OF OUR WATER THE MORE IT WILL AFFECT THE ENVIRONEMENT IN A GOOD WAY. 

DONG THESE THINGS CAN SAVE UP TO 2650 US GALLONS OF WATER A YEAR.

Thanks, Blackberry, for sharing all this with us!

Admin