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Abstract

Water is perhaps the most extensively studied yet persistently incompletely understood substance. Due to the increasing mismatch between the finite natural availability of freshwater and the ever-increasing human water demand often exacerbated by inadequate management, has propelled the world into diverse crises of water quantity and quality, unmistakably marking an era of water scarcity. A characteristic hallmark of the Anthropocene is the globalization of water supply challenges, necessitating the offsetting of deficits through the import of goods from relatively water rich regions via virtual water trade. Moreover, the compounding effects of climate change and ensuing droughts further intensify these water challenges, prompting a reassessment of the tangible and intangible worth of water and its finite nature. Within this framework, there arises a compelling imperative to critically interrogate and potentially revise contemporary concepts of the water cycle, mindful of their historical genesis. This essay attempts to do so with a primarily hydrological and earth-system lens, while striving for interdisciplinary insights. Drawing upon a variety of texts and secondary sources, it delineates the evolution of prominent conceptualizations and figures in the study of the water cycle since antiquity, suggesting the need to correct modern thinking about water.