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Flood and Environmental Awareness
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The power of water
The power of water
Water is the driving force of all nature - Leonardo da Vinci
The amount of water on Earth hasn’t changed since the planet was formed two billion years ago.
Approximately 97% of the water on Earth is salt water. Only 3% is fresh water. Of that 3%, most is frozen in the polar caps of Antarctica. The remaining 1% is found in lakes, reservoirs, rivers, streams, and beneath the ground.
Water moves around the Earth in a water cycle. In one century, the average water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about two weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere. Much of the Earth’s water remains locked in glaciers and polar ice for thousands of years.
![The Bridge House guesthouse in Hawick on the Scottish borders after its outer wall collapsed into the River Teviot in 2020. Image credit: Rob Tait/PA.](/media/cache/mini/uploads/canvey-island/training-app/34/river-teviot-in-2020.webp?2022-10-10T12:38:10+00:00)
The Bridge House guesthouse in Hawick on the Scottish borders after its outer wall collapsed into the River Teviot in 2020. Image credit: Rob Tait/PA.