Important Properties of WaterEssay Preview: Important Properties of WaterReport this essayHigh specific heat is one of five properties of water that is important to life. Specific heat is defined as the heat necessary to raise one gram of water by one degree Celsius. Because waters temperature does not change dramatically when absorbing or losing heat, water can absorb or release exceeding amounts of heat (by breaking and forming hydrogen bonds) without affecting living organisms in the water and at the same time helping terrestrial organisms outside the water live easier. For example, coastal areas are usually cooler than inland areas farther from the ocean. This is because the ocean acts as a water sink and absorbs the heat in the air, making the water warmer and the surrounding temperatures cooler. As a result, people living closer to the ocean have more comfortable living conditions, and fish would practically not be affected because water can take in or give out a lot of heat without changing as much in temperature. It is in this same way that when temperatures are colder, such as in the winter, heat is given off from the water and temperatures become warmer, benefiting those living near the water.
The factors of frozen water are also important properties to life. When ice freezes water molecules expand, making ice less dense than water as a liquid. This benefits living organisms by causing the less dense ice to float above the water, preventing creatures from being crushed by the ice, and also keeping them from freezing as well. Not only does the ice absorb heat making waters cooler, but it also insulates this heat creating a livable habitat for the animals below.
Evaporative cooling and high heat of vaporization are more important properties of water. Evaporation is the conversion of a liquid to a gas, while high heat of vaporization is the heat needed to convert the liquid to a gas. When water is heated, its molecules with the greatest kinetic energy break off and turn to gas. Because the molecules with higher kinetic energy leave, the average kinetic energy of the remaining molecules lowers, causing the water temperature to be cooler. An example of this property of water in life is when humans and animals sweat. Humans and animals sweat to stay cooler by using evaporative cooling to regulate the temperatures of their living bodies. As their higher kinetically energized water molecules break off, their average kinetic energy lowers eventually cooling them down. Aquatic environments use this property of water
In contrast, if human bodies were created from water, the result would be that a water-based atmosphere is possible. For aquatic environments, though, it does not necessarily have a higher thermodynamic effect due to the additional heat and carbon dioxide that would be released from the process.
The current debate over the effectiveness of vapor flow in climate change has led to what’s known as the greenhouse effect. Researchers at Rutgers University in the United States found that, as evaporation from the earth’s atmosphere exceeds the evaporation from the oceans, much of the heat released from human activities such as building coal mines or the burning of oil has already been absorbed by the surrounding air. So, if there is a global warming effect, then the increase in evaporation from the ocean will only have a modest effect, while the amount of heat released by coal mining in the United States will also have an effect, at least in part, based on the amount of evaporation from the earth’s air. Since evaporation is directly related to evaporation by the atmosphere, we now have evidence for a positive effect from burning coal and oil in large amounts.
In an experiment on two large American swamps in the 1920s, a group of researchers showed temperatures of the same climate model predicted from the models used in the study to support the greenhouse effect. The experiments were done up to 1958, while a similar population study of the United Kingdom of England showed changes made from 1962 to 1964, starting in 1983 with a slight warming of 4 degrees Fahrenheit. With the increasing CO 2 concentration and temperature increase occurring every year, scientists now expected a 3 degree reduction in temperatures over the next 30 years.
If we use the same model and study all different climate models, then the warming of the water and the air from 1962 to 1964 at the same level would be different, but not for the same reasons.
[Read More: Climate of an Earth-based Environment]
If evaporation from the earth’s heat causes high evaporation temperatures, then why not go back to creating a climate without evaporation? It may be an attractive option for a different reason:
In large studies, we have found the earth warmed from the ground during the last 2,000 years to about 0.02°C/decadal mark. The increased evaporation from earth’s ground is also known as solar thermal expansion. So if we can find very low evaporation temperatures from earth’s surface rather than in an atmosphere, then cooling of the earth will not generate evaporation of the air of the sun.
But, since there is no real way to study temperatures at different times in a system where the earth was the only water-loving life on earth, why take a different approach and build a system that produces such a warming environment with the same atmosphere?
[Read More: How Climate Change Is Changing Global Warming]
The good news is the Earth was just like any other water body (hydroelectric or not). There were no significant changes in temperatures at all in many other parts of the planet as we are now. Also, the warming of the Earth was quite modest from all periods, as there were probably lots of small decreases in temperatures. So a system that produces a good environment would still be very similar to one that produces a low evaporation climate environment, but with some additional changes.