Water

by Tom Shafer

January 26, 2018

I think about water a lot.  I know I should drink more of it, but don’t.  I am quite the conservationist because my property sits upon a well that produces water for the homestead, and occasionally the level in our aquifer changes, rendering us with just a trickle of it.  I know that many places in the world struggle to find and maintain it, including places in our own country like California and Arizona.  I also know that somewhere between 70 and 71% of the planet is water, and that 3% of that is fresh. 

All of this got me to thinking: Is the percentage of water on our planet a critical number?  In other words, for life to exist here, is that 71% more mandatory than accidental?  A quick trolling of the internet produced no results, but then I realized that without other close planets to study, we may not be able determine or even theorize an answer.

This is the stuff that happens inside my brain.  Submitted for your perusal.

• 

•