A volcano is a place on the Earth from which magma and gases associated with magma flow through the Earth’s crust onto the surface, whether on land, in shallow waters along the shoreline, or under the sea. Scientists estimate that there are tens of thousands of active and dormant volcanoes on Earth, and thousands more extinct volcanoes.

Water and volcanoes are closely linked. Water plays significant roles throughout the “life cycle” of magma: from its production deep within the Earth, to its fiery escape at a volcano, to its final cooling.

Water Introduction via Plate Tectonics

The making of a volcano requires magma, and the making of magma requires heat. In other words, rock that is deep within the Earth must melt before a volcano can form.

Most of the Earth’s interior, although hot, is solid. From experiments it is known that water decreases the melting point of rock. If water is introduced to regions deep within the Earth, then solid rock there may begin to melt. Read more

There is simply no commodity on the planet more precious than water. Without it, life as we know it cannot exist. The human body can go without water for only three days at the most before death occurs.

Aside from the essential survival aspects, we also depend on water for many other things, such as bathing, watering our lawns and gardens, washing our clothes, and a number of other daily activities. Everyone knows this, but access to clean water is something most of us have taken for granted.

However, that is beginning to change, particularly in the Southwest region of the United States, where a drought period that has lasted for more than a decade has become a massive problem. In California, Nevada and Arizona in particular, millions of people are being affected. Experts say that the problem will only worsen over the coming years. Read more

Summer is the season of not only holidays, but also repair. For many people it begins in the clouds of construction dust, and a cheerful singing grinder or punch. To make a candy form their homes, it will take time, money, nerves of steel and …much water. It is necessary for the preparation of solutions, washing tools, final cleaning. And those who paints, glues and plasterers have to wash more often than usual.

The exact calculation. It is unlikely that you thought about it before, but to save water without sacrificing quality in the process of repair is quite real. Building materials, cement, glue for wallpaper – of course, all this can’t be prepared without water. However, the generous gestures and working by eye are misplaced here, otherwise you’ll have to throw away the remaining solution. The mixture should be used as soon as possible, so never prepare it in advance and make new portions of solutions as far as you need them. Read more

Water is used around the world for the production of electricity, but new research results show that there will not be enough water in the world to meet demand by 2040 if the energy and power situation does not improve before then.

Two new reports that focus on the global electricity water nexus have just been published. Three years of research show that by the year 2040 there will not be enough water in the world to quench the thirst of the world population and keep the current energy and power solutions going if we continue doing what we are doing today. It is a clash of competing necessities, between drinking water and energy demand. Behind the research is a group of researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, Vermont Law School and CNA Corporation in the US. Read more

An immensely powerful yet invisible force pulls water from Earth to the top of the tallest redwood and delivers snow to the tops of the Himalayas. Yet despite the power of evaporating water, its potential to propel self-sufficient devices or produce electricity has remained largely untapped — until now.

Eva, the first evaporation-powered car, has a turbine engine that rotates as water evaporates from the wet paper lining the walls of the engine.

In the June 16 online issue of Nature Communications, Columbia University scientists report the development of two novel devices that derive power directly from evaporation — a floating, piston-driven engine that generates electricity causing a light to flash, and a rotary engine that drives a miniature car. Read more