Water from Heaven

by Kandel, Robert S.

• ISBN13: 9780231122450
• ISBN10: 0231122454
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-15
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

From where -- and what -- does water come? How did it become the key to life in the universe? Water from Heaven presents a state-of-the-art portrait of the science of water, recounting how the oxygen needed to form H2O originated in the nuclear reactions in the interiors of stars, asking whether microcomets may be replenishing our world's oceans, and explaining how the Moon and planets set ice-age rhythms by way of slight variations in Earth's orbit and rotation. The book then takes the measure of water today in all its states, solid and gaseous as well as liquid.How do the famous El Niño and La Niña events in the Pacific affect our weather? What clues can water provide scientists in search of evidence of climate changes of the past, and how does it complicate their predictions of future global warming? Finally, Water from Heaven deals with the role of water in the rise and fall of civilizations. As nations grapple over watershed rights and pollution controls, water is poised to supplant oil as the most contested natural resource of the new century. The vast majority of water "used" today is devoted to large-scale agriculture and though water is a renewable resource, it is not an infinite one. Already many parts of the world are running up against the limits of what is readily available.Water from Heaven is, in short, the full story of water and all its remarkable properties. It spans from water's beginnings during the formation of stars, all the way through the origin of the solar system, the evolution of life on Earth, the rise of civilization, and what will happen in the future. Dealing with the physical, chemical, biological, and political importance of water, this book transforms our understanding of our most precious, and abused, resource. Robert Kandel shows that water presents us with a series of crucial questions and pivotal choices that will change the way you look at your next glass of water.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	XI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	XV
PROLOGUE	1	(8)
PRIMING THE PUMP	1	(2)
THE STATES OF WATER	3	(2)
SOME REMARKABLE PROPERTIES	5	(1)
WATER'S MANY CYCLES	6	(3)
PART I Water in the Universe from the Big Bang to the Appearance of Man	9	(74)
1. BEGINNINGS	11	(8)
FROM HYDROGEN TO OXYGEN, AND ALL THE REST	11	(6)
WATER IN THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM	17	(2)
2. THE CHURNING OF THE EARTH	19	(20)
SAVING THE WATER AT THE BIRTH OF THE PLANETS	19	(4)
PRIMORDIAL WATERS-FROM INSIDE THE EARTH OR FROM OUTSIDE?	23	(2)
OUTGASSING AND DELUGE	25	(3)
A LIVING SOLID EARTH: OCEANS, SEA-FLOOR SPREADING, CONTINENTAL DRIFT, EARTHQUAKES, AND VOLCANOES	28	(11)
3. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LIFE	39	(16)
AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORIGIN?	39	(1)
MATTER LIVING AND INERT	40	(5)
WHERE AND WHEN DID LIFE APPEAR?	45	(2)
LIFE WITHOUT THE SUN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA	47	(3)
THE INVENTION OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND THE CONQUEST OF DRY LAND	50	(5)
4. CATASTROPHES	55	(11)
CLIMBING UP AN EVOLUTIONARY LADDER?	55	(1)
MASS EXTINCTIONS	56	(2)
THE DEMISE OF THE DINOSAURS	58	(3)
DEADLY IMPACT	61	(3)
MAN THE EXTERMINATOR	64	(2)
5. ICE, MOON, AND PLANETS	66	(19)
THE MOON, TIME, AND TIDE	66	(4)
THE PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES	70	(2)
THE MOON AND MILANKOVITCH	72	(3)
ICE ON THE MOVE	75	(5)
ICE IN THE TROPICS	80	(3)
PART II Water in Today's World	83	(104)
6. WATER AND ENERGY CYCLES	85	(16)
ICE BUDGETS	85	(2)
WATER BUDGETS: CLOUDS, RAIN, AND SNOW	87	(2)
WATER BUDGETS: EVAPORATION, CONDENSATION, AND LATENT HEAT	89	(3)
ENERGY BUDGETS AND THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT	92	(3)
LATITUDES AND SEASONS	95	(3)
LAND AND SEA	98	(3)
7. WINDS, WAVES, AND CURRENTS	101	(23)
THE TROPICAL FURNACE AND THE HADLEY CIRCULATION	101	(3)
EAST WINDS, WEST WINDS, AND THE GYRATIONS OF THE OCEANS	104	(4)
LAND AND SEA: MONSOONS	108	(3)
EAST-WEST: EL NINO, LA NINA, AND THE PACIFIC BASIN	111	(9)
NORTH-SOUTH: THE ATLANTIC	120	(4)
8. WATER'S DEEP MEMORIES	124	(11)
THE SALT OF THE SEA	124	(7)
THE GREAT CONVEYOR BELT	131	(1)
FORESEEABLE ACCIDENTS, OR SURPRISES?	132	(3)
9. CLOUDS, RAIN, AND ANGRY SKIES	135	(20)
MAKING RAIN	135	(4)
STABILITY OR INSTABILITY?	139	(2)
FROM FAIR-WEATHER CUMULUS TO CUMULONIMBUS: CONVECTION AND PRECIPITATION	141	(1)
CYCLONES AND CONVECTIVE CLOUD SYSTEMS	142	(4)
TORNADOES	146	(3)
TROPICAL CYCLONES: HURRICANES AND TYPHOONS	149	(2)
GENTLY FALLING SNOW AND RAIN	151	(1)
ACID RAIN	152	(3)
10. EARTH'S WATER, BETWEEN SKY AND SEA	155	(32)
WATERSHEDS AND WATER FLOWS	155	(6)
VEGETATION, EVAPOTRANSPIRATION, AND THE SOIL	161	(3)
INFILTRATION AND UNDERGROUND WATER	164	(6)
RUNOFF: FROM RILLS TO RIVERS	170	(7)
ALONG THE GREAT RIVERS	177	(5)
WATER ON THE CONTINENTAL SCALE	182	(5)
PART III Water in Human History, Past and Future	187	(76)
11. WATER AND MAN'S RISE TO CIVILIZATION	189	(31)
OUT OF THE ICE AGE	189	(6)
THE NILE	195	(1)
WATER'S REVENGE	196	(5)
DRINKING WATER FOR THE CITIES	201	(3)
CLEAN BUT TOXIC WATER	204	(3)
WATER DOWN THE DRAIN	207	(2)
WATER FOR FOOD	209	(2)
LAND FOR FOOD?	211	(2)
MOSQUITOES AND DISEASE	213	(1)
WATER FOR INDUSTRY	214	(1)
WATER BUSINESS	215	(2)
NUCLEAR POWER AND WATER	217	(3)
12. PROBLEMS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY	220	(19)
A NEW MILLENNIUM?	220	(1)
THE WATER RESOURCE	221	(4)
SATISFACTION OF WATER NEEDS	225	(3)
WATER MANAGEMENT: COOPERATION OR CONFLICT?	228	(4)
WATER BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE ARABS	232	(7)
13. BUTTERFLIES AND HUMANS IN A
WARMING GREENHOUSE	239	(1)
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT	239	(3)
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT	242	(1)
GLOBAL WARMING?	243	(3)
THE REAL RISKS	246	(3)
A NEW DEAL IN WATER	249	(3)
14. BACK TO THE ICE AGE	252	(7)
THE END OF THE PLEISTOCENE?	252	(1)
FROM THE TWENTIETH TO THE 21ST CENTURY	253	(2)
FINITE AND INFINITE RESOURCES	255	(2)
AVOIDABLE CATASTROPHE	257	(2)
15. CONCLUSION-THE END OF THE STORY?	259	(4)
BACK TO THE BEGINNING?	259	(4)
NOTES	263	(26)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	289	(10)
INDEX	299