World Water Day - March 22

"On World Water Day, let us commit to developing the necessary policies to ensure that water and sustainable energy are guaranteed to many and not just some."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement in honor of World Water Day.

Water and energy are closely intertwined and interdependent. Energy transfer requires the utilization of water resources, especially for hydroelectric, nuclear and thermal energy sources.

We sometimes take the water for granted, but about a billion people around the world do not have access to clean and safe drinking water.

In honor of International Water Day declared by the United Nations in 1992, get some facts you (maybe) did not know about water that will make you think about water differently:

3.4 million people die each year from water-related factors.

People in Africa and Asia have to walk an average of 6 km to collect water.

An average swimming pool loses 3.785 liters a month as a result of evaporation and other factors.

Flushing an average toilet uses 6 gallons of clean water.

Our bones contain 31% water.

Only 1% of the world's water is drinkable.

Nearly 700 million people in China drink contaminated water.

In Cape Town, South Africa, there is a severe shortage of water. The government has imposed severe restrictions on water consumption and by April 2018 the city may remain without water at all.

In Peru, there is a sign that creates potable water from air.

The water itself does not conduct electricity but the impurities and particles that are in it.

Hot water is heavier than cold water.

90% of the fresh water in the world is in the Antarctic continent.

There is a reservoir of floating water in space that is equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in the oceans of the world.

2/3 of the water consumed in an average home is wasted in the bathroom.

About 75% of man's finds are made of water.

Each foot contains about 250,000 sweat glands.

Drinking too much water can cause water poisoning.

Water makes up only 0.07% of the Earth's mass, or 0.4% of its volume.

The water is azure turquoise due to the weak absorption in the red part of the visible spectrum.

20% of the non-frozen fresh water is in a single lake: Lake Baikal in Russia.

Under certain circumstances, hot water can freeze faster than cold water.

March 22 is also Wonder Woman's birthday

World Soil Day - December 5

World Earth Day celebrated on December 5 is a day dedicated to the earth's soil which is one of man's most important resources. Earth, as the World Soil Day website points out, is "where food begins." All of our fruits and vegetables grow in the soil or on top of shrubs or trees that come out of the soil, the food for the animals we grow grows in the soil. Even the natural fibers we produce for clothing are made from plants that grow in the soil or from animals that eat plants that grow in the soil.

Along with water and sun, the soil is one of the most important components in agriculture.

Still, some of the things people do cause the soil rich in valuable minerals to shrink and lose its quality.

When we throw in the trash materials that contain toxic chemicals, like nylon and plastic, they are buried in waste sites and absorbed into the soil where we grow our food. The toxic ingredients are swept away in rains and floods and spread to large areas, and also seep into the water we drink, let the animals drink, use for washing and watering plants.

An example of damage to land can be seen in the case of Love Canal, a neighborhood near Niagara Falls in New York. The neighborhood was established near the Love Canal Canal, and in the 1940s, with government approval, water was diverted to it from a chemical plant that operated at Niagara Falls that contained toxic chemicals. The chemicals were absorbed into the soil and drinking water and caused a massive environmental pollution disaster that harmed the health of hundreds of neighborhood residents. Many of them had leukemia, asthma and kidney disease, and suffered from miscarriages, births of babies with malformations and more.

To maintain our precious soil, we need to reduce the use of plastic and plastics and stop consuming disposable utensils (just as Greta Thunberg says). The many purchases we make also contribute to soil pollution, as the increased consumption causes the industry to continue to pollute the environment with chemicals and the products of the industry are the waste that is thrown away and buried in the soil.

 December 5th is also Ninja Day and Repeal Day

Niagara Falls Runs Dry Day - March 29th

Niagara Falls is a huge waterfall located on the US-Canada border. Its height is 51 meters (167 ft ). Throughout the year the water flows in the waterfalls in tremendous quantity and intensity, making the place a site that attracts millions of tourists every year.

But, on March 29, 1848, an extraordinary thing happened.

The water flow of the Niagara River was stopped for a few hours because of ice formed up the Niagara River.

The rushing river that is dangerous to approach and not to mention entering has stopped its flow.

People went into the water to take out objects that had fallen on them there in the past.

The phenomenon that happened is called the "Ice Bridge." Sometimes, during very cold and long winters, ice bridges form under waterfalls. The ice bridges slow down and weaken the flow of water, but a complete halt to the falls has never happened, except on this date in 1848.

Some interesting facts about Niagara Falls

Until 1912 visitors to the waterfalls were allowed to stand on the ice bridge and look at the waterfalls, until in 1912 the ice bridge broke and three tourists died.

Every year about 15 million tourists visit Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is known as the world capital of honeymooners.

If you want to get close to the Niagara Falls and get wet from them, you can take a boat called the "Maid of the Mist".

If you want to look at Niagara Falls from above you can climb The Skylon Tower, a skyscraper located near Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. This is the tallest observation tower overlooking the falls.

If you want to sleep near Niagara, you can sleep in the nearby town of Niagara on the Lake in the northern part of Niagara, in the territory of the state of Canada. It is one of the most beautiful towns in Canada.

In 1825, Mordechai Manuel Noah sought to establish on the southern side of the falls, on the island of Grand Island, a state for Jews to be integrated within the United States. He bought a third of the island and was given an option to buy the other two-thirds, laid the cornerstone for a settlement called Ararat, but the Jews did not respond to his call to settle the island. A few years later, Noah came to the conclusion that the Jews should settle in the Land of Israel and nowhere else. In 1837, decades before Herzl, he wrote a letter to Western governments requesting assistance from Israel by the Jews.

Annie Edson Taylor, Link: Wikipedia

On October 24, 1901, on her 63rd birthday, Annie Edson Taylor, an American teacher, set out for Niagara Falls to fall from them in a barrel. She is the first person who managed to survive the fall. She did it to make money to secure her financial future, but did not gain much from it. She fell at the falls in an oak and iron barrel with a heart-shaped pillow inside, and came out alive and well, except for a small wound on her head.

Half of the water in Niagara Falls is used to produce hydroelectric energy (electricity generated by water movement) by the governments of the United States and Canada. The Niagara Falls area is the area where the most hydroelectric energy is produced in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

 March 29 is also Piano Day and Smoke and Mirrors Day