Water Planet
hydrosphere hy-dro-sphere - all the waters on the earth's surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the earth's surface, such as clouds.
We live on a Water Planet. It is a unique place in that it is the only planet we know of that supports life. And in our case, that life is nurtured and sustained by water.
Vital to all life on Earth, water moves through our world in a constant state of flux. Cycling endlessly through ecosystems, flowing under the poles and through the atmosphere, changing states, laying waste to entire regions or achieving perfection in the shape of a single snowflake - water is a mystery and a miracle, a source of conflict and a cause for celebration, a blessing and, in its absence, a curse.
All of the water in the world including sea water, ice, lakes, aquifers, clouds, etc. could fit into a ball that would measure just 1,390 km across.
The story of our Water Planet has never been more crucial and relevant than it is today. In our era of climate change, desertification, sea level rise, acid rain, drought, falling water tables, dead zones, and widespread pollution, water quality and quantity is becoming more critical by the minute. The new global culture of extraction and expansion is jeopardizing the very substance that supports life on our planet.
The boundaries between human development, humanitarian relief and environmental conservation must disappear for a sustainable world to truly begin to take shape. Water is the principle protagonist of that changing paradigm.
There is a need for a shift from the current general perception that water exists in fragmented stasis towards a more accurate understanding of water as a system in which we are all downstream from one another.