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Earth's water. Where does it come from?

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KindaSkolarly

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Earth's water. Where does it come from?

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I admit I don't know.

Do we have a fixed amount that recycles through rains, evaporation and so on, or is it constantly created in some way?

Science used to say that our water came from comets and celestial bodies hitting the earth. That always seemed a little faith-based to me, a little supernatural even. So, where does our water come from?

Revealed:The vast reservoir hidden beneath the Earth's crust that holds as much water as ALL of the oceans
dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-257 ... ceans.html

Huge 'Ocean' Discovered Inside Earth
livescience.com/1312-huge-ocean-discove ... earth.html
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DWill

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Re: Earth's water. Where does it come from?

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Interesting recent PBS show, "H2O, the Molecule that Made Us," gives this origin story from geologist Stephen Mojzsis:

"We long held this idea… A belief really that water was delivered by comets and asteroids and so on… But instead what we found is that water was already here. And we know this from the investigation of the very oldest minerals of all.

Stephen says that water first showed up on the surface about 4.3 billion years ago.

So much of the surface was molten rock that we call this time the Hadean, which means “hell.”

This is very much like what we might imagine the Hadean Earth was like. A bright red sky. That atmosphere is dominantly carbon dioxide…Soon after it had finished its cooling, rocks and minerals released water as steam. It goes into the atmosphere – expands—and cools and as clouds then result in rain.

So began the first water cycle…And it rained so much that two thirds of our planet was submerged under water. This water has special powers. Well water is, is like the superhero of molecules. Water is a really great solvent…We call it ‘the universal solvent’ because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid.

And that meant, our ancient oceans were this primordial soup of chemicals...That is the crucible of life’s origin. We don’t know for sure but scientists think there was a spark... And then... A water molecule is the link between the non-living and the living world. Stephen says the development of life could not have happened at a more crucial moment. Because at this time, Earth’s atmosphere was mostly carbon dioxide, which acted like a blanket hugging the Earth. That heated things up and threatened to vaporize all of our water.

Earth’s fate would have been a super-hothouse with a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere. No water, no life… hellish surface. But then, Stephen told me, early life evolved to rescue Earth from this scorching apocalypse. Because a kind of bacteria photosynthesized the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere…"

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/molecule-that- ... e-1-pulse/
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Re: Earth's water. Where does it come from?

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According to my 8th grade science teacher, a substantial portion of Earth's water came from volcanism in the distant past.
KindaSkolarly

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Re: Earth's water. Where does it come from?

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My point is, if you don't know where water comes from, or how the water on the surface of the planet is replenished, then how can you claim "falling sea levels" are due to a manmade climate crisis?
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DWill

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Re: Earth's water. Where does it come from?

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KindaSkolarly wrote:My point is, if you don't know where water comes from, or how the water on the surface of the planet is replenished, then how can you claim "falling sea levels" are due to a manmade climate crisis?
You meant to say "rising sea levels." I would dispute that we don't know how water on the surface is replenished, and I gave one scientist's account of how water came to be so abundant on the planet. But it's not that I have any personal knowledge of the origin of water, just as it's not that I have personal knowledge of climate change. In fact, most ideas about the physical world that you and I accept aren't things that we arrived at by our own investigation. We've all placed a certain trust in the process of inquiry that is science, which includes one of your favorites, archaeology. And we have ample reason for that trust, and ample reward. The evidence that science has compiled on the reality of climate change I consider to be compelling. That it is all a hoax would be truly an all-time first for science.

You'd have to explain to me further why I--or anyone--needs to be sure of the origin of water in order to make a judgment that the climate is changing faster than normal processes can account for. I don't see how the latter depends upon the former.
KindaSkolarly

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Re: Earth's water. Where does it come from?

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Right, RISING sea levels. That's what the climate hysterics say we're facing.

But for sea levels to change like they claim, then the amount of water on the earth's surface would have to be constant. Constant amount of water, sea levels rise or fall according to how much water is in the form of ice at any one time.

But go back to the articles in the original post. There are OCEANS of water beneath the earth's surface. Does that water vent to the surface? Do surface waters drain into underground oceans? Without knowing how much water is coming and going, how can any claim about sea levels changing be accurate?
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