Can this planet produce more water? or are we reusing the water thats been here since the beginning?

Question

Can this planet produce more water? or are we reusing the water thats been here since the beginning?

Answer 1

The total amount of water is fixed.  The amount of fresh (not salt) water is going down as we melt the glaciers and ice caps, and as we pump water out of the aquifers. We use much more than we capture from rainfall.

It is beginning to hurt that we are running out of oil.  That is as nothing compared to what will happen as we run out of fresh water.

Answer 2

Chemical reactions (burning hydrogen) can produce water.

Answer 3

Except for absolutely tiny losses and gains from the atmosphere, it's all recycled, although the water may be in different forms, i.e. ice and water vapour.

Answer 4

The amount of water on Earth is fixed.  There are some fancy processes that can create water, but it's not practical to create a signicant amount of water that way.

Answer 5

One water molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Hydrogen was probably formed very shortly (in cosmic terms) after the birth of the universe (ie the Big Bang, if you believe in that), and oxygen was probably formed sometime after, and perhaps more recently in supernovae. (Where complex nuclear fusion reactions have occurred). Quite a bit of hydrogen and oxygen has been around on Earth since the planet formed, and the amount that is here has been more or less fixed since.

Water is formed by condensation (a chemical reaction whereby two molecules react eg acid plus alkali becomes a salt plus water), respiration (the release of chemical energy by biological processes) and combustion (burning hydrocarbons, to make carbon dioxide and water). The amount of water here on the planet is roughly fixed because very little arrives from space, and very little escapes.

We don't really produce more water, we might just change it's form from ice to water to steam. A little bit might be created from combustion, respiration or condensation I guess, but small potatoes compared to the amount that's already in the seas etc. Mostly it's just recycled through the 'water cycle'.

Answer 6

Some water is lost into space, in the form of vapour.  Some is produced by volcanic activity.  But most just kinda circulates around.