Water

Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula H2O. It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth’s hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a solvent). It is vital for all known forms of life, despite not providing food, energy or organic micronutrients. Its chemical formula, H2O, indicates that each of its molecules contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms, connected by covalent bonds. The hydrogen atoms are attached to the oxygen atom at an angle of 104.45°. “Water” is also the name of the liquid state of H2O at standard temperature and pressure.

The climate crisis poses many threats to global security, but among the most urgent is access to a life-sustaining resource: water. From the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam dispute to border skirmishes between India and China, famine in Afghanistan, and political unrest in the United States, Latin America, and North Africa, it is clear that water-related competition only escalates in scale and intensity as climate change further restricts access to this ever-vital resource.