Water in Human Life
Water is an essential part of everything that lives on Earth. It comprises about 65% of a human body and forms the greatest portion of most living plants and animals. Without water, present life on Earth would not exist.
The human need for water is universal, independent from the geographical region or the chronological period. Myths concerned with this basic need are widespread in various cultures, testifying this major reality of human life.
Water is something man has to traverse; it is a passage of some kind. The very ancient feeling of respect man experiences for this vital natural element has led to the development of superstitions and beliefs. So water has been deified, connected with romantic mystic stories about mermaids or ghosts.
Water is one of the crucial components regulating human life and survival. Regions with either complete absence or threatening abundance of water have obliged men to adapt to this challenging environment and fight systematically against aridity or flood. Failure to control natural forces leads to immediate disasters or gradual degradation of the environment, including not only floods but also changing river courses, meager harvests and famine as a result of excess salt concentration in the soil.
Every day a person need to consume about 2 L of water, just to stay healthy. The water acts to flush out poisons, which would otherwise harm you. By dissolving harmful substances, water is able to carry them away and make our life possible. Since water can dissolve so many substances, it can be called the universal solvent.
Our daily life is centered on water. Each person in an average household, for example, uses 225 L of water every day. Few people ever venture far from a source of water whether it is in a jug, a faucet, or in food.
All fresh water on Earth originated from the oceans. The heating the ocean water by the sun is the key process that starts the hydrologic cycle (water cycle) in motion. The evaporated water forms the clouds and eventually reaches the land in the form of precipitation to fill lakes, rivers, and other forms of surface water. The amount of precipitation, however, can vary greatly from season to season in any location. Some regions experience very heavy precipitation in some seasons, and relatively little in others. The results of these variations mean that pipelines and large-scale dams must be used to supply some cities with water throughout the year.
In spite of all this, some people have made the mistake of assuming that it is not important to manage the water properly. So, besides providing an adequate supply of water for human activities, we are faced with the additional problem of cleaning up our polluted rivers, lakes and oceans. Chemical and sewage wastes as well as acid rains make our water not only be unfit to drink, but also unsafe to swim in.
Water pollution is a serious problem and only careful water management by each person can mean that clean water will be a valuable gift to future generations.
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1. Why is water so important for living beings?
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2. Why can it be called a universal solvent?
3. Why can we say that our life is centered on water?
4. How can you explain what a hydrologic cycle is?
5. What additional problem are we faced with besides providing an adequate supply of water for human activities?
6. Why are there so many myths and legends connected with water?
7. What does failure to control natural forces lead to?
8. Does the human need for water depend on the geographical region or something else of a kind?
Ex. 8. Retell the text in your own words trying to summarize the main information about the water
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Human Settlements and Water
Water has always been an element integrated in human societies and human life. The first civilizations grew up on riverbanks, on floodplains, in deltas and on seacoasts. The seasonal fertilization of the areas allowed a sustained crop production and development of agriculture. The Indus River, the Mekong River, the two-river country at the River Euphrates and the Tigris and the Nile are the examples of river areas that have fostered civilizations, some of them as long as 10, 000 years ago. The Minoans, Mycenaeans, Phoenicians, Scandinavians and later British people represent sea civilizations, vitally dependent on their ships.
The most spectacular wetland areas in the Baltic region (which our country is related to), the deltas where the large rivers entered the Baltic Sea, and the confluences of the large rivers, also became the sites of the earliest cities. Where the Wisla River enters the Gulf of Gdansk, the city of Gdansk grew up 1, 000 years ago. Where the Daugava River, called the Dvina in Belarus and Russia, enters the Gulf of Riga, Riga was built 800 years ago. Where the Neva enters the Gulf of Finland, St. Petersburg now situated.
Although the best-known waterfront cities may be Venice, Amsterdam and Hong Kong, the Baltic region is also very rich in picturesque waterfronts. Stockholm is richly blessed with beaches, streams, lakes and seafronts; tsar Peter the Great designed St. Petersburg, situated on some 70 smaller and larger islands, with Amsterdam as a model; Gdansk, with
its canals and streams, boasts beautiful waterside promenades. There are only few of those, which are worth mentioning. The list can be continued. Inland cities with beautiful water vievs are found at the large lakes in the North. A number of large and smaller cities situated at rivers have j their old castles, palaces and recreational zones at the riverbank. But construction there took place not only for pleasure and beauty. There was also; the need to build ports, warehouses and industries at the waterfronts.
There are several reasons for this concentration of cities by water. The large rivers were important waterways for transportation, trade and j travel and the deltas, being the gates to the inland, became politically important to control. But long before the political arguments became decisive, humans settled close to water. Here they found food from fishing and hunting - in the Baltic Sea seal hunting was always importantas well as other necessities.
This preponderance settlements close to water continues today. On a global scale, it can be observed with satellites. At night the casts of the continents are outlined by a band of illuminated cities. Throughout its history the population has been continuously concentrated along waters. Economy also adds to the picture. Properties close to water have always been much more expensive than those inland, if the water isj clean, of course.
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