http://discovermagazine.com/2010/may/20-things-you-didn.t-know-about-water
This article revealed 20 interesting and little know facts about the resource we depend on everyday... water. From all these facts here are 5 of my favorite:
1. Fresh can be a relative term. Before 2009 federal regulations did not require water bottle to remove E.coli.
Response: I like this fact because many people are hyped up by E.coli in food such as meat. That the law permitted E.coli in water bottles is astounding.
2. The new Water Recovery System on the International Space Station recycles 93 percent of astronauts’ perspiration and urine, turning it back into drinking water.
Response: This would be great to use on Earth but it is probably too expensive to practical.
3.Good gardeners know not to water plants during the day. Droplets clinging to the leaves can act as little magnifying glasses, focusing sunlight and causing the plants to burn.
Response: I didn't now that even tiny droplets of water can magnify and actually burn something.
4. Scientists at Oregon State University have identified vast reservoirs of water beneath the ocean floor. In fact, there may be more water under the oceans than in them.
Response: I wonder whether all of the water under the ocean is salt. Is any of it fresh enough to drink? Does it just stay there or is it part of the water cycle?
5. Recent evidence suggests that when the solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago, comets had liquid cores. If so, life may have started in a comet.
Response: If life started in comets does that mean there is life in other planets hit buy comets?
Here are 5 of my own facts about water:
1. In 20 minutes, one thunderstorm can send down over 125,000,000 gallons of water!
http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/mteasley/p4/watercycle.html
2. Between 1950 and 2000, the U.S. population nearly doubled. However, in that same period, public demand for water more than tripled! Americans now use an average of 100 gallons of water each day — enough to fill 1,600 drinking glasses! (EPA, 2008)
http://www.oberlin.edu/recycle/facts.html
3. It takes 2 gallons to brush your teeth, 2 to 7 gallons to flush a toilet, and 25 to 50 gallons to take a shower.
http://www.njawwa.org/kidsweb/waterfacts/waterfacts.htm
4. If 4% of the world's military expenditures (36 billion dollars) was saved each year, all of humanity would have clean drinking water and a sanitary way of disposing waste.
http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/water.htm
5. If all the world's water were fit into a gallon jug, the fresh water available for us to use would equal only about one tablespoon.
http://www.rivers.gov/waterfacts.html
I like number 2 and 4 because it really opens my eyes about how much water we spend everyday and we should start spending less!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your questions to number 4. It's actually really interesting!
ReplyDeleteI liked your choices for 3 and 4 because you in them you can see how badly we treat our Earth, and if we turned off the water, or if we saved only 4% of the world's military expenditures, we can see how much water we are saving.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one reason for the tripling of water usage during an increase in population in those years could be the greater public awareness of disease and personal hygiene. The government in many countries takes it upon themselves to educate the public with public service announcements, some of which have been aimed at increasing handwashing and bathing to limit the spread of disease.
ReplyDeleteEmma, could we possibly make your resources clickable links in the future so that a reader if they wanted to could follow your website to learn more? I think that might make things more accessible.
ReplyDelete