There is exactly the same amount of water on Earth now as there was 3 billion years ago. None has been added. None has been lost. It just moves — from ocean, to sky, to rain, to river, back to ocean. Over and over. This endless loop is the water cycle.
Every raindrop that falls on Ho Chi Minh City has already been rain thousands of times before. The water in the Mekong River has been inside clouds over the Pacific Ocean. The ice in your drink was once part of a glacier. Water travels farther than any aeroplane ever could.
Only 3% of Earth's water is fresh — and most of that is locked in glaciers and ice caps. Less than 1% is the drinkable water in rivers, lakes, and underground.
A single tree can release 75 litres of water per day through its leaves into the air. The Amazon rainforest creates its own rain — trees release so much water that clouds form above the forest every afternoon.
Water is the only substance on Earth that naturally exists as a solid, liquid, and gas all at the same time — as ice, water, and steam.
About 60% of your body is water. It's in your blood, your cells, your brain. Without it, humans survive only 3 days.
The water you drink today has cycled through the sky, the ocean, and the ground millions of times. Some of it was inside an ancient sea creature. Some drifted over the Sahara Desert. Some formed a snowflake high above Japan.
Every sip connects you to the whole planet's history.