The Elixir of Life Is In Danger

John Mitchinson

Water is the most important substance on the planet: without it there would be no life.

Its capacity to retain heat has helped to keep the Earth’s temperature stable. Its transparency allows life-sustaining light to penetrate its depths. Also, because it can dissolve almost anything, it is the medium in which life’s key metabolic exchanges take place.

Life began in the sea 4.3 billion years ago, not long after the Earth itself was formed.