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EAU (oh)
French
for water
Common
clues: Water,
to Monet; Lac contents; Jardin fluid; Vichy water; Water under
the pont; ___ de cologne; ___ Claire, Wisconsin; ___ de toilette;
Mer contents
Crossword
puzzle frequency:
9 times a year
Frequency
in English language:
36257 / 86800
News:
Peep
into a very private waterworld
Video:
BBC
PLANET EARTH – Fresh Water
"The
passing cloud, the cooling breeze, the sudden storm that
threatens to burst and finally does, the wind that stirs and
suddenly blows with full force, the light that fades and is
reborn are all things, elusive to the eyes of the uninitiated,
that transfigure the color and shape of the bodies of water."
--Claude Monet
Water
is a common chemical substance that is essential to all known
forms of life. In typical usage water refers only to its liquid
form or state, but the substance also has the solid state, ice,
and gaseous state, water vapor. About 1,460 teratonnes (Tt) of
water cover 71% of Earth's surface, with 1.6% of water below
ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds, and
precipitation. Saltwater oceans hold 97% of surface water,
glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%; and other land surface water
such as rivers and lakes 0.025%. Water in these forms moves
perpetually through the water cycle of evaporation and
transpiration, precipitation, and runoff usually reaching the
sea. Winds carry water vapor over land at the same rate as runoff
into the sea, about 36 Tt per year. Over land, evaporation and
transpiration contribute another 71 Tt per year to the
precipitation of 107 Tt per year over land. Some water is trapped
for periods in ice caps, glaciers, aquifers, or lakes for varying
periods, sometimes providing fresh water for life on land. Clean,
fresh water is essential to human and other land-based life. In
many parts of the world, it is in short supply. Many very
important chemical substances, such as salts, sugars, acids,
alkalis, some gases (especially oxygen) and many organic
molecules dissolve in water. Outside of our planet, a significant
quantity is thought to exist underground on the planet Mars, on
the moons Europa and Enceladus, and on the exoplanet known as HD
209458 b.
With
nearly 2,000 cubic metres (70,000 ft3) of water per person and
per year, the United States leads the world in water consumption
per capita. In the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) countries, the U.S. is first for water
consumption, then Canada with 1,600 cubic meters (56,000 ft3) of
water per person per year, which is about twice the amount of
water used by the average person from France, three times as much
as the average German, and almost eight times as much as the
average Dane. Since 1980, overall water use in Canada has
increased by 25.7%. This is five times higher than the overall
OECD increase of 4.5%. In contrast, nine OECD nations were able
to decrease their overall water use since 1980 (Sweden, the
Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech
Republic, Luxembourg, Poland, Finland and Denmark).
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Water".
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