You know who doesn’t get enough credit? Dihydrogen monoxide: a.k.a. water. I’m not just talking about the health aspects here, but in so many ways, water is amazing.
As you may remember from science class, water is one of the few compounds that’s more dense as a liquid than a solid, hence why ice floats to the top. It’s also very resistant to temperature change. These properties allow marine life to survive throughout the seasons. Water’s highly cohesive and adhesive, which enables capillary action (upward flow, often against gravity, in narrow spaces), is why it forms spherical droplets, and how some small organisms can walk on its surface. It’s generally pH neutral, and is an excellent solvent (many substances can dissolve in it) as well.
Around 60 per cent of the human body is water! Though potentially possible on other planets, we’ve yet to discover a form of life that can exist without it. Clean drinking water is becoming precious, and we in the Fraser Valley are very fortunate to have it so readily available to us. So next time you wash your hands, have a drink, a shower, etc., remember to appreciate just how important and wonderful water really is!
Image: Amara Gelaude/The Cascade
