Water• Water… who cares!?!?• Where do we find Earth’s water?

Water• The importance of Earth’s water• Why we should be concerned about water• Earth’s water in three forms:

• Freshwater• Oceans• glaciers

The Importance of Earth’s WaterOver 70% of our planet is covered in waterLife on Earth began in water (some 3.6 billion

years ago)Over half the world’s population lives within

100km of the oceanOceans influence our climate (& help

stabilize global temperatures)Much of our carbon is stored in these carbon

sinksProvide food and habitat to many of Earth’s

creatures

Oceans… so who cares!?!?

Oceans… so who cares!?!?Our oceans are in crisis. How do we know?

Fisheries depleted25% of Earth’s coral reefs have already been

destroyedDuring the 20th century, sea levels rose by

15cmThis causes an increase in the melting of our

glaciers and ice sheetsEstimates that our sea levels could rise up to

80cm this century

Freshwater... so who cares!?!?

Freshwater... so who cares!?!?We drink it! Humans can only survive a few

days without water, and we are running out of it!

During the 20th century, population increased 3x but water consumption increased 7x

we need roughly 50 litres of water per dayAfricans use an average of 6 litres/dayNorth Americans use 600 litres/day

The Earth’s freshwater

Glaciers… so who cares!?!?

Glaciers… so who cares!?!?The cryosphere covers 10% of the Earth’s

surfaceCryosphere: the part of the planet covered by

ice, glaciers, and snowGlaciers are masses of ice that:

Extend at least 1 tenth of a square kmOriginate on landMove

Glaciers… so who cares!?!?Glaciers in the

Rockies peaked in 1850 during a “Little Ice Age”

Since then, the Rocky Mountain Glaciers have been retreated “up the mountain”

Athabasca Glacier, for example, has retreated 1.5km

Athabasca Glacier1969 2011

It’s not just glaciers, the whole cryosphere is disappearing…

Mount Kilimanjaro1993 2000

We will talk later about:Water contamination & scarcity (the physical geography)Water contamination & scarcity (the human geography)What we are doing about itWhat we can do about it