Water's Uniqueness

Water’s Uniqueness In our everyday lives, we are surrounded by water. Water makes up nearly 75% of the Earth’s surface, existing in three forms: solid, liquid, and gas. We ourselves are even made of almost 60% of water. Yet, we humans hardly ever take the time to stop and think how vital water is to our lives and to life on Earth. Life is unique and necessary on Earth due to its extreme solvency and property to expand when frozen. Water is nature’s top solvent. Most solutes can be dissolved in water, such as salt and sugar. Because of this, water is able to carry nutrients and distribute them to places in need all around the world. For example, the water of a small creek in a forest carries nutrients that the soil downstream desperately needed. Since 75% of our Earth is water, the water is the most effective transporter on Earth. However, not only does water carry nutrients to nature all around the Earth, water helps transport both nutrients and wastes from cell to cell or out of our bodies. Especially because cells are 90% composed of water, water is a valuable player in the making and reproducing of cells. Without water to help move along these important nutrients of cells, the cells will eventually die. Without water to help excrete waste from the body, the unneeded materials would cause complications or allow an overproduction of toxins from the liver. Without water in the cell, the cell will wither and dry out—and eventually die. More generally, the property of water that allows it to expand when frozen only goes on to show how dependent life is on the existence of water on Earth. Because the density of frozen water, or ice, is lower than the density of liquid water, a layer of ice forms over the water still in its liquid state; this layer of ice insulates the water underneath it, ensuring that the water will remain, for the most part, in liquid form. If ice was denser than water, then the layer of ice would sink to the bottom of the sea, allowing