The Chemistry of H2O
This term describes a molecule, like water, that has a slight positive charge on one end and a slight negative charge on the other.
polar molecule (or polarity)
These two physical forces are the primary drivers of all water movements in the hydrosphere.
What are solar radiation and gravity?
This term is defined as having access to sufficient amounts of safe, clean drinking water to live sustainably.
What is water security?
Globally, this sector accounts for the largest percentage (approximately 72%) of freshwater consumption.
What is agriculture?
Oceans act as one of these by absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they release.
What is a carbon sink?
This property allows water molecules to stick to each other, creating surface tension.
cohesion
This is the largest store of freshwater on Earth, containing nearly 69% of all non-saline water.
What are glaciers and ice caps?
This specific type of scarcity occurs when water is physically present but a country lacks the money or infrastructure to distribute it.
What is economic water scarcity?
This energy-intensive process involves removing salt from seawater to create drinkable freshwater.
What is desalination?
This environmental problem occurs in the short term when CO2 dissolves in seawater, lowering the pH level.
What is ocean acidification?
This specific property explains why water moves upward through a plant's xylem against the force of gravity.
What is adhesion (or capillary action)?
This process occurs when water vapor is released from the leaves of plants into the atmosphere.
What is transpiration?
A country is officially said to be experiencing this "stress" when its annual water supply falls below 1,700 cubic meters per person.
What is water stress?
These are the three main human activities mentioned in the text that significantly alter the flows and stores of the water cycle.
What are agriculture, deforestation, and urbanization?
This transition layer in the ocean separates the warm surface water from the cold, deep water below.
What is the thermocline?
Because it can dissolve more substances than any other liquid, water is known by this "universal" title.
What is the Universal Solvent?
This global "conveyor belt" of ocean currents is driven by differences in water temperature and salinity.
What is thermohaline circulation?
This measurement calculates the total volume of freshwater used by a person, society, or business to produce goods and services.
What is a water footprint?
This term refers to the political challenges and negotiations involving the management of water resources that cross national borders.
What is hydropolitics?
Freshwater use is identified as one of these "limits" that, if crossed, could lead to abrupt and irreversible changes to Earth's systems.
What is a Planetary Boundary?