Water, Water Everywhere


Science on a Sphere projects actual moving images of the Earth from space onto a six-foot-diameter globe

© AMNH / Denis Finnin

Water is all around us. Oceans cover more than two-thirds of our planet, and in most places on land you're not far from a lake, river, stream, swamp, or glacier. Water is also in constant motion, carried around the planet by storms, currents, tides, and other forces.

Whether water is liquid or frozen, present year-round or arriving in pulses with monsoons or hurricanes, humans and other species have adapted to life in all kinds of wet environments. Even where water is plentiful, we can only ensure a healthy ecosystem by preserving that abundance and by keeping the water clean.