Why We Should Celebrate Water Every Day
Every March the United Nations sets aside a day to remember the importance of clean drinking water and to recognize it as a right for every living being. Today there are still over 2 billion people that live without access to safe drinking water. Despite all of our modern technologies, the global water crisis continues with dire consequences.
Your own body is over 60 percent water - each of your trillions of cells are made almost entirely of it. Water keeps your body working properly in really big ways. It helps you absorb all of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in the food you eat and it regulates your body temperature. This rises when you don’t replace the fluids you’ve lost.
You also lose water constantly - from sweating, breathing, and digesting. So it’s important to stay on top of taking in water. Your whole body runs better when you’re properly hydrated. It boosts your energy, keeps your immune system strong, and even helps you stay sharp.
When you’re dehydrated, your brain and body both feel sluggish. You might struggle to remember things or stay focused. Water makes up a big part of your blood which circulates through your body. Your blood vessel system is 60,000 miles long - twice the length it takes to travel around the world! It is so important for delivering oxygen and nutrients to all of your muscles and organs. Your heart pumps that blood throughout your body and it beats over 100,000 times a day. If you’re not drinking enough water, your blood will become more concentrated and your heart will have to work much harder to pump blood through. Which is why you might feel weak, lightheaded, and cognitive impaired. It could even result in a heart attack.
There are so many reasons why access to drinking water is an absolute necessity for your health. Every part of your body relies on it, even the health of your teeth. Not to mention freshwater is behind so many aspects of our everyday lives.
It’s used to produce the food we eat, the cars we drive, and the clothes we wear. It generates power and keeps us clean and sanitized.
Access to freshwater means reducing the spread of deadly diseases, which has become especially important in the last year.
Jacque Cousteau once said “We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.”
World Water Day also gives us time to reflect on how climate change is affecting water supplies on our planet. How floods, droughts, and pollution are all linked to how we use water.
As climate change continues at a rapid rate, more people will struggle with water scarcity. If global warming became limited to only 1.5 degrees Celsius above where it was pre-industrial, climate induced water stress could be cut by over 50 percent.
For nearly two decades the day has been about highlighting the importance of freshwater. However the lessons we learn on March 22nd must carry with us to every other day of the year.
