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| picture by Google |
Water...
The earth is the only known planet with huge bodies
of water. Seventy percent of its surface area consists of oceans, lakes, and
seas surrounding huge bodies of land. The few other planets that have water
contain only moisture floating as vapor on their surface or small amounts of
ice or liquid water on the planet itself, not large bodies of liquid water as
on earth.
Water is unique in that it can absorb enormous
amounts of heat without a large alteration in its temperature. Its heat
absorption level is about ten times as great as steel. During the day, the
earth's bodies of water rapidly soak up enormous amounts of heat; thus, the
earth stays fairly cool. At night, they release the vast amounts of heat that
they absorbed during the day, which, combined with atmospheric effects, keeps
most of the surface from freezing solid at night. If it were not for the
tremendous amounts of water on the earth, far greater day and night temperature
variations would exist. Many parts of the surface would be hot enough to boil
water during the day, and the same parts would be cold enough to freeze water
at night. Because water is an excellent temperature stabilizer, the large
oceans on earth are vital for life to exist on earth.
In contrast to virtually all other materials (the
rare exceptions include rubber and antimony), water contracts when cooled only
until it reaches 4 degrees Celsius. Then it amazingly expands until it freezes.
Thus, because of this anomaly, the ice that forms in seas, oceans, and lakes
stays near the surface, where the sun heats it during the day and the warm
water below melts it in the summer. This and the Coriolis effect, which
produces ocean currents, ensure that most of the ocean stays in a liquid form,
allowing the myriads of water creatures to live.
Source : Institute for Creation Research
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