You definitely made a splash with this article. I was all in for finding water somewhere far out there until you said it was so far. Guess we'd die of thirst (or something else) before we got there. I'll try taking shorter showers. 💜
“So hey, maybe we should do that?” !!!! Indeed. And if we postulate that the energy that makes up me could be bigger than my body, I tend to think I’m probably 75% anxiety and I don’t know how much of anything else.
I love "toddler questions", and you've hit on a particularly tough one to tackle. You'd think "where did our water come from" would be pretty settled, but I remember trying to prepare to teach this stuff early on and seeing pretty persuasive arguments (as you mention) for Earthly as well as extra-terrestrial contributions. So, this not really being my field, I usually just shrug my way through and just say that we can probably rule out each extreme. Even if only *some* of the water comes from comets and asteroids, what an amazing thing to think about!
Accepting the impact-delivered nature of our planet’s water, are there any estimates of the timeline? Was it all in the early Earth or can events in the last, say million years, added significant volumes? If so, can some of the climate changes seen been triggered by increases in available water?
Since so much of this science is based on numbers way too vast for most people's brains to wrap around, it seems worth it to bring the notion of "plenty of freshwater" even if rivers and lakes dried up down to a human scale. As in, if the rivers (and aquifers) dry up in the Western United States (which has been happening steadily for decades and most people have been blissfully ignoring it) the scale of life in those places (LA and Phoenix, for instance) will be literally untenable. I live in Upstate NY, in the Finger Lakes, and we are replete with fresh water so far, but folks are very clear that when/if other areas of the country don't get a handle on fresh water usage and fresh water supply we are going to be welcoming masses of climate refugees from within the United States without anywhere near the adequate infrastructure to absorb them. This could happen in my children's lifetimes, if not mine.
"If we did that, there should be more than enough for everyone. So hey, maybe we should do that?" Enter Count Von Late Stage Capitalism, twiddling his curly 'I'm a villain' moustache and shouting 'how about NO.'
I live in the house I grew up in- Almost every one in town had me babysit or I babysat their children then I became a teacher and my students?! And certain families such a s the Chapman’s?! Johnny Appleseed anyone - now they have huge family reunions !!
Well - hmm Witching hour is never over in New England. And planets 🪐 - it’s like DUNE - I watched that this summer while stuck in airports- trying to get to Florida then get away from Florida- then back again- then away again...8x infinity =pie Ku
I was all set to thinking about that episode of Star Trek: Discovery when they reached the outer edge of … whatever and it was nothing they could describe, but you got my mind all disassembled and refracted into the Oort Cloud and its vastness in the best possible way. So cool to think about!
You definitely made a splash with this article. I was all in for finding water somewhere far out there until you said it was so far. Guess we'd die of thirst (or something else) before we got there. I'll try taking shorter showers. 💜
“So hey, maybe we should do that?” !!!! Indeed. And if we postulate that the energy that makes up me could be bigger than my body, I tend to think I’m probably 75% anxiety and I don’t know how much of anything else.
Interesting read, you may be interested in this interactive map of the Solar System: https://lebesnec.github.io/solar-system/
I love "toddler questions", and you've hit on a particularly tough one to tackle. You'd think "where did our water come from" would be pretty settled, but I remember trying to prepare to teach this stuff early on and seeing pretty persuasive arguments (as you mention) for Earthly as well as extra-terrestrial contributions. So, this not really being my field, I usually just shrug my way through and just say that we can probably rule out each extreme. Even if only *some* of the water comes from comets and asteroids, what an amazing thing to think about!
I love the fun, conversational tone of your writing. And fascinating topic. Not something I ever think about. Until now!
Accepting the impact-delivered nature of our planet’s water, are there any estimates of the timeline? Was it all in the early Earth or can events in the last, say million years, added significant volumes? If so, can some of the climate changes seen been triggered by increases in available water?
Wow, fantastic and fascinating read! 100 bars of gold latinum to the author!
Since so much of this science is based on numbers way too vast for most people's brains to wrap around, it seems worth it to bring the notion of "plenty of freshwater" even if rivers and lakes dried up down to a human scale. As in, if the rivers (and aquifers) dry up in the Western United States (which has been happening steadily for decades and most people have been blissfully ignoring it) the scale of life in those places (LA and Phoenix, for instance) will be literally untenable. I live in Upstate NY, in the Finger Lakes, and we are replete with fresh water so far, but folks are very clear that when/if other areas of the country don't get a handle on fresh water usage and fresh water supply we are going to be welcoming masses of climate refugees from within the United States without anywhere near the adequate infrastructure to absorb them. This could happen in my children's lifetimes, if not mine.
"If we did that, there should be more than enough for everyone. So hey, maybe we should do that?" Enter Count Von Late Stage Capitalism, twiddling his curly 'I'm a villain' moustache and shouting 'how about NO.'
I live in the house I grew up in- Almost every one in town had me babysit or I babysat their children then I became a teacher and my students?! And certain families such a s the Chapman’s?! Johnny Appleseed anyone - now they have huge family reunions !!
Well - hmm Witching hour is never over in New England. And planets 🪐 - it’s like DUNE - I watched that this summer while stuck in airports- trying to get to Florida then get away from Florida- then back again- then away again...8x infinity =pie Ku
I was all set to thinking about that episode of Star Trek: Discovery when they reached the outer edge of … whatever and it was nothing they could describe, but you got my mind all disassembled and refracted into the Oort Cloud and its vastness in the best possible way. So cool to think about!