Hydrosphere refers to the portion of the Earth that is composed of water. It represents one component of Earth’s system. In physical geography, the term hydrosphere comes from the Greek word ‘’hydro’’ which means ‘’water’’. It describes the collective mass of water found on, under, and over a planet’s surface. The derivation of the term hydrosphere, from the Greek words for water and ball, is truly descriptive of our world, as it reflects the abundance and importance of water on Earth. On Earth, water exists in the three primary states of matter; liquid, solid (ice), and gas (water vapour).
Earth is so called as ‘’blue planet’’ because most of it is covered with water. This water is made up of freshwater needed for drinking, farming, and washing like rivers, lakes and groundwater. It is also made up of saltwater like the oceans and estuaries, and is also made up of water vapor. It is only a very small amount is actually for human consumption (e.g. drinking water).
As we can observe, hydrosphere occupied a great part on Earth. In fact, about 75% of the Earth is covered by water. The hydrosphere interacts with the other earth spheres. The movement of water around, over and through the Earth is called the water cycle, a key process of the hydrosphere and is simply powered by the sun. It is also stated that the distance of the Earth from the sun is fortunately suitable for all living things to sustain individual lives. It is responsible in keeping us alive.
Hydrosphere is perfectly life- giving because both the living and non- living organisms depend on it for it is design by God to allow ourselves to live and exists. It is so important and significant for it gives us chance to live. Without it, all things would exists no more. Hydrosphere is really important in terms of human needs. People use water in a number of ways. Drinking water is absolutely important in all aspects of our lives, and water is used domestically such as washing, cleaning, and etc. and in industry.
Without water, all of us will die because nothing can supply water generally to both the living and non- living things. And obviously, there is nothing more we can compare with the powerful water. It can also be used to generate electricity through hydropower, using turbines. Water also has the capacity to store large quantities of heat energy that heavily influences the nature of the global climate. Hydrosphere is also responsible why we experienced different weather. The presence of the large bodies of liquid water and the atmosphere restrict the range of temperature occurrence on Earth. Perhaps, this condition has allowed the existence of the fourth component of Earth’s system, the biosphere. Hydrosphere is important for it is the home of many plants and animals. It provides habitat and important place for them to live. There are many gases nutrients are dissolved in water and because of it’s presence, it is critical for life to exist in water. Water is also a part of living cells. Each cell in a living organism is made up of almost 75% of water, and this allows the cell to function normally. Without water, cells would not be able to carry out their normal functions and life surely could not exist for as we all know that cell is the basic unit of life. See? That’s how important the hydrosphere is our individual lives.
Hydrosphere has the connection with the atmosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. It is the water cycle for the atmosphere. In lithosphere, water is an important weathering agent that helps to break down into rock fragments and then soil, then transported to other places that help to shape the Earth’s surface. Best examples of it are rivers, streams, canals, and etc. In biosphere, water is important for it is needed in photosynthesis, the food production process in plants.
Totally, water is necessary for all organisms and creatures on Earth. It is part of our lives and it is our life, right?
Can you afford to imagine how difficult or perhaps how impossible for us to live without hydrosphere? It is definitely difficult to live without water for it serves as our source of life and allows us to continue as human being. See? How lucky are we to be with it? We should give thanks to God for giving us opportunity to live with the ‘’hydrosphere’’ for it is a ‘’life- giving’’one.
May all of us continue nurturing of such creation.