Water A Precious Resource Essay

Water As A Resource On The Earth Essay

WATER AS A RESOURCE While all varieties of natural resources have been used for the collective advancement of human civilization over the course of history, none plays such a vital and important role as water. Water has irrigated our fields, quenched our thirst, carried our products and people all over the world, and has supported life since the beginning of biological life. All things considered, water is the most precious resource on the planet with a grand host of applications instrumental to the survival and advancement of humanity. Human society uses water for a multitude of different applications and claims can be made that, along with breathable air, that consumable water is one of the most fundamental and essential natural resources on the planet. Having this type of instrumental and varied usage makes being geographically located by a source of water an advantage to anyone who lives near its bountiful source. Water can be broken up into two main segments, salt water and freshwater. Salt water makes up 97.5 percent of the Earth's surface while freshwater makes up the remaining 2.5 percent. Out of this small portion of the overall global water supply, nearly two–thirds of this essential resource is locked away in ice caps, permafrost, and frozen glaciers, making it inaccessible for basic human needs. (United States Geological Survey, 2014) This makes conserving and protecting our water supplies an imperative process which requires a great deal of cooperation

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Water Conservation Essay

One of the items people, animals, and our environment cannot live without is water. Water is extremely vital in the everyday life of everyone in the world from everyday life of drinking, washing clothes, animals, grains, cleaning, and so many other uses that eliminating water would eliminate our species as we all depend on the necessity of water. "The water footprint refers to the volumes of water consumption and pollution that are 'behind' your daily consumption". (Network, 2010) If an average American uses approximately 80–100 gallons of water per day then an average American needs to change their ways and contribute to a better water footprint. Water is critical for ecological systems and the health of humans. Animals or plants...show more content...

Examples of products and water is that the "global average water footprint: 15500 liters of water per kg of beef" and the "global average water footprint: 2400 liters of water for one hamburger!" (Network, 2010) Understanding the amount of water our world uses is imperative as there are many consequences to follow globally. The global consequences of using so much water are that globally we are in a water crisis. The demand for water is always a necessity and as population increases the need for water increases. The lack of safe drinking water and sanitation varies from country to country. "More than one out of six people lack access to safe drinking water, namely 1.1 billion people, and more than two out of six people lack adequate sanitation, namely 2.6 billion people. 2900 children die every day from water borne diseases". (Council, 2009) Not only is there a crisis with consumption of water for people but also it is critical that humans reduce the amount of water they use for industrial and agricultural development in order not to effect the aquatic ecosystems and their species. "Water covers almost 70 percent of the surface of the globe and is the Earth's most abundant resource. About 97 percent of the water is the oceans and is too salty for drinking, growing crops, and most other human resources". (Frederick, 2004)

Since globally there is a water crisis, it is important to conserve as much water as possible every day. Not only understanding how I Get

Problems Associated With Water Resources

Water is a basic necessity in our daily lives. Over 50% of our bodies are made up of water, so in order to be a healthy human being we should be consuming about 2 liters of water a day. This is easy to do for some people, especially those who live in more developed countries such as the United States of America. This can't be said for developing countries, such as Algeria. Considering that the Sahara Desert covers most of Algeria, it is one of the countries that are water–scarce. The water sector in Algeria is very unreliable particularly due to its geography and climate change. These impacts are causing problems for future water resources. Water resources are one of Algeria's most current issues and dealing with the decrease in renewable water resources. This is problematic because the declining water resources means Algerians lack access to safe, clean drinking water, which can lead to diseases if people are consuming contaminated water. Also with limited/declining water resources there are issues with hunger and sanitation. There isn't enough water for agriculture and the production of crops. It's important to address the issue of water scarcity and implement solutions that will better the supply of water. Algeria's renewable water resources in the 1980's were estimated to be about 16.5 billion m3 a year on average, but since then Algeria's numbers have decreased 25% per year (Hamiche 2014). In 2012 Algeria's water availability dropped below the scarcity threshold

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Introduction

Water is a natural resource which is very critical to all life on Earth. Natural resources are things that come from nature. Natural resources are either renewable or non renewable. Some of the Earth's natural resources are; Soil, Air, and Water. Although the Earth is almost covered in water, it is considered a finite resource which means there is an end to the amount of water that is available for human consumption. Where a population lives and also their quality of life, depends on the availability of potable water. This is so because; of all the water on the Earth's surface, only about one percent is fresh water that is available for human use. Fresh water is found in rivers, streams, lakes...show more content...

It is ironic however, that although a lot of water is used for domestic purposes, many people do not drink the required amount of water needed to keep the body at peak functioning level. So, already before the water is completely gone, we are depriving ourselves of this life sustaining substance. Instead we use substitutes, which we are led to believe (due to the ad campaigns of the Industrial and Commercial users of water) are far better than water because they contain energy boosters like electrolytes and caffeine. The fresh water supply may be completely depleted due to continuous human consumption norms. These norms would include various methods of water use such as commercial, mining and domestic usage. In addition to this, there is the further treat of climate change, which is caused by the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. The release of green house gases causes the earth's temperature to become heated and in turn warms the oceans and melts the polar ice caps resulting in increased sea levels. These would contribute to the depletion of fresh water through evaporation.

On the flip side however, due to technological advances in science it can be argued that is not highly impossible for humans to exist in a world without water. Take for instance, research and development being done on new waterless or less

water technologies. In crowded countries with water shortages, where

"Nary a drop to drink"

Ralph Nader said, "Water is the most precious, limited natural resource we have in this country. But because water belongs to no one, except the people... special interests, including government polluters, use it as their private sewers." ( Ralph Nader, 1971) Without natural resources life itself would be impossible. Beginning at the conception of life until death, natural resources are transformed for human use; including but not limited to feed, clothe, shelter, and energy. We depend upon them for every material necessity, comfort, convenience, and protection in our lives today. Without an abundant source of that precious resources prosperity is completely out of reach.

The state of Bihar is located on the Bihar plain and is divided into two unequal halves by the river Ganges which flows through the middle from west to east. The state of Bihar has a 94,163 square kilometer area. Bihar is located in the eastern part of the country and lies mid–way between the West Bengal in the east and the Uttar Pradesh in the west. Its boundary touches Nepal in north and Jharkhand state in south. Its average elevation above sea level is 173 feet. I selected Bihar because it is India's third–most populous state with a population of 103 million according to the 2011 Census. Bihar has the lowest literacy rate which results in a lack of skilled workers lower per capita which reflects in the poverty rating of Bihar. Nearly 85% of Bihar's population lives in rural areas. The average life

If you were stranded on an island, what is the one thing you need the most? Water. Water is the most valuable resource on Earth. Life as we know it would not be possible without this unique substance. Water is almost everywhere, it is in the air as vapor, it creates ocean, rivers, it is in plants, organisms and underground (Perlman). Sadly, Earth's freshwater supply is diminishing; the natural resource is used commercially and independently. Due to overuse, fresh water needs to be preserved for as long as possible until our reservoirs are restocked. Even though Earth is 75% water, only a small part is freshwater: about 2.5% (Perlman), so saving freshwater must be the utmost priority. This essay explores the role of water from the beginning of time all the way to the present and its future uses. Roughly 13.8 billion years ago time, energy, matter, and space were created; space itself was no bigger than an atom. Suddenly, everything began expanding at an extraordinary rate. As time went by, everything started cooling and protons and electrons took shape in the form of plasma. Approximately 380,000 years after the Big Bang, protons, neutrons, and electrons bonded together to form hydrogen atoms, a main component in water (Christian 29). In time gravity pulled huge masses of hydrogen together. When enough hydrogen was accumulated, the innermost part of the gas cloud began to collide, creating a huge amount of energy. Hydrogen atoms were able to fuse together to form helium. As

Is Water a Human Right? by

GARRETT HEANEY

"Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right. Contaminated water jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. It is an affront to human dignity."– Kofi Annan, prior United Nations Secretary–General

... If only the issue of water as a human right was as simple as Kofi Annan's perspective.

A world where humans have a well defined set of undeniable rights is an important goal for this generation. But aside from rights, the human race has a more dire set of biological needs that it must secure in order to survive. When someone is denied a right, they suffer. When someone is denied a need, they die.

Air, food and water are the most...show more content... If they were, there would be no water crises. That is an important realization for all humans – governments are not always capable of solving problems.

Legislative lessons

In research, we reviewed national laws and the constitutions of countries across the world, to determine how successful governments were in both acknowledging a human right to water, and enforcing it. Our findings varied, and rather than creating a comprehensive list of water laws by country, I will refer you to The Water Law and Standards Website– a joint project of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), located at www.waterlawandstandards.org. This is a searchable database of specific water laws by individual country or by region, with the ability to tailor search results to varying degrees of detail, including direct quotations from parliamentary and constitutional frameworks.

What we gained from this research was not a thorough understanding of the legislative measures that governments are taking to provide water to the citizens within their borders. Rather, we learned the general lesson that governments, regardless of their resources or political structure, are not the most reliable or capable entities to provide for human beings Get

Water is a valuable product, which is essential for survival of life. It is a unique product with no substitute and continues to be the basic need of mankind. Its contribution to human survival can't be compared to another sector as it's said that 'no water no life. Due to its importance, a significant number of Water utilities have been developed in many developing countries, both in urban and rural areas, mainly coveringWater supply schemes and Sanitation infrastructures, Most of these Water supply schemes have been either financed by international agencies, central government, state or by local governments during its planning and construction. Despite the substantial support from these agencies, the fact remains that many water...show more content...

15 on the right to water (articles 11 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)). The CESCR defined the right to water as the right of everyone to sufficient, agreeable, physically attainable, and affordable water for household and personal use.

In accordance with the World Population Report issued in 2001, indicate that as many as 48 developing countries are probably like to face pressures due to water shortages by the year 2025. Likewise, at present about 20 % of the World's population is lacking access to adequate and safe drinking water. In 25 years time, this figure is apparently like to increase suddenly to about half of the world population. Further, the majority of the population lives in urban areas, where various reports suggested, that about 10 to 12 billion people could be living in the cities in middle of 21 century. Continued urbanization puts challenges and various attentions to water resources management as the proportion of water used by cities will increase with time.

1.1WATER SECTOR IN TANZANIA

Water in the country is extensive and unevenly distributed in time and space, currently there is about 97.28 km3 of renewable water resources per year, Lakes cover about 7% of Tanzanian's land surface, major sources of fresh water being African great lakes, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and

Water

A Precious Resource: The Need for Clean Water Science/ Social Science Basged Cross–Curricular Unit

By Jet HughesDefinition of pollutant.

A substance that pollutes something, especially water or the atmosphere.

What are the pollutants?

Dirt, Bacteria, Nutrients. Dirt

Yeah. Dirt, it was listed as the main cause ofwater pollution to our rivers and streams. When dirt washes into our streams and rivers it kills any fish eggs clinging to the rocks, also it can clog up the gills of fish which kills them. Another bad thing is that the dirt stops sunlight getting to the plants in the streams or river which stops them being able to photosynthesise which kills them.

How does the dirt get into the streams. Well one of the main ways dirt gets into streams is cows on farms. They wander into the streams dirtying them from the dirt on the body's. Also if you remove tree's from the bank it speeds up the water flow which will corrode more of the dirt from the bank of the stream's Bacteria

Bacteria is one of the main problems of water in NZ. Some of the bacteria are not harmful (like yoghurt which has bacteria), but the presence of indicator bacteria show clues that there are other germs and viruses are in the water that might make you sick too.

How does the bacteria get into the stream's

The main sources of bacteria are combined sewers and runoff of animal waste from farms and city streets.

Nutrients

How do the pollutants get into the water?

Water is something no one can live without. In fact, human bodies are about sixty–five percent water. Therefore, water conservation is a project everyone should be willing to participate in. Specifically, in the Logan, Utah area, water conservation is an important topic, as the citizens use water every day. "In an interview with The Herald Journal, USU sociology professor Douglas Jackson–Smith said the city's water concerns have the potential to increase, based on Logan's anticipated population growth by 2050" (Peikes). There is a growing concern about the amount of water the city will have or be able to produce for the growing population. Although it is important that each citizen is staying hydrated and being hygienic, people do not need to use so much water in doing so. Many people have cut back on watering their lawns, or started to take shorter showers, but there are more options to choose from and ways to conserve water. This problem is solvable, if only more people would participate and take steps to conserve water. First, the citizens of Logan, Utah should act in conserving the water supply in Logan for now and for the future. The actions they can take are simple, and come down to the basic rule "stop using so much/ wasting water". Each individual resident can take steps to conserve water within their homes. That is usually the easy part. The hard part about conserving water is getting businesses and the city itself to conserve water. Businesses waste a substantial

Water is the most precious resource this planet has to offer. A one of a kind substance, water is a resource that sustains all life on this planet. Yet, humanity supports an industry that uses water inefficiently and irresponsibly, one that takes more 42% humanity's accessible fresh water and wastes it. Unless we take the proper initiative, our world's water supplies will slowly deplete, leaving earth in an eternal drought, which could potentially cause an end to the human race. Agriculture is an industry that will cause water scarcity to erupt throughout the world if not changed from its irresponsible methods. As the world's largest industry, agriculture uses 70% of our accessible remaining freshwater. In other words, the amount of water...show more content... Similarly, even when the water does make it to theirrigation systems, much of it is also wasted due to lazy field application methods. Sprinkler systems are installed to make work easier, but the amount of water it spews out is not necessary, but farmers refuse to uninstall the systems because it brings maximized growth to crops and thus increasing the amount of harvest. One may think that agricultural water transportation isn't as defective as it may seem, as some of the water will drip down into the underground aquifers, but what one doesn't know is that the water also drags dangerous agrichemicals with it. More specifically, pesticides and insecticides can pollute the water in the underground aquifers, making the water non–potable and thus furthering water scarcity. A huge majority of water used in the agricultural industry is wasted; a predicted 60%, but on the other hand, the one may argue that through all these troubles, the food that is grown does go to use. This, however, is wrong, because even when our food is grown or raised through the unnecessary, maximized water, huge quantities of the food is wasted every single day.

Humanity has carelessly managed food production, thus wasting the massive quantities of water that are used to grow crops and raise animals. First of all, the cultivation of thirsty, exotic plants that are from exotic regions, thus needing higher quantities of water to make Get

Water is the most precious resource to mankind. With every living substance needing water from humans, animals, and plants it is the one thing no living creature can survive without. The thought of losing or having restricted access to water is a very frightening one. Water shortages not only pose an epic threat for the obvious reason, that water is needed, to drink, but also to the lives around us. With little or no water people would have to make hard decisions such as, letting an animal dehydrate so they can have enough water for their families to survive or who they should ration the water to and how much to ration to save as many people as possible. California has been experiencing a very severe drought that has cost California millions of dollars in agriculture and manufacturing due to low water. Though their drought is not apocalyptic yet, but it could worsen and become an apocalypse that we should fear. The changes that can come from such a disaster would change the lives of everyone in society. The ways water shortages could come about is multiple ways such as, drought, poor management of water, or political issues. Water corruption is a threat to society which needs to be dealt with efficiently and immediately. Societies are already being torn apart to nearly unlivable conditions due to low water amounts in their countries. The prime example here is Africa. Many villages suffer from low water access. With little or no access this forces the citizens of the

Drinking Water: Human Right or Commodity? Water, like food, is a necessity for human life that is used for many purposes such as agricultural, industrial, and domestic systems. While water is a common element around the world not all of it is clean and able to be consumed or used by humans. With only a percentage of the world's water being clean and the use of water increasing, the availability of water around the world has become a common issue in the developing and even the developed world. This may be a smaller problem in areas close to clean water sources compared to areas far from a clean water source but, the availability of water is not strictly based on location, it also depends on the specific political and social needs and issues of the area as well. These all become issues that must be accounted for when deciphering whether water is a basic human right or a commodity and what action must be taken to aid the developing water systems in community's that lack them.

1. Human Right or Commodity? Whether water is a human commodity or basic human right has become a large problem around the world while dealing with the availability of clean drinking water in developing societies. If water is either recognized to be a right or a commodity, many complications come to these developing countries in several social and political aspects. A human right is a freedom and a right that belongs to everyone in the world. Water as a human right gives everyone the right to water as

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Water Is The Precious Resource On Earth

Introduction/Thesis Water is without a doubt the most precious resource on Earth; it is not only essential to the survival of our planet, but it is also essential to the survival of human beings and animals. As humans, we need access to clean water for several reasons, including physical, environmental, and industrial conditions. However, the most crucial aspect of clean water is our survival. Sixty percent of the human adult body consists of water, and it is vital in order for our bodies to function properly (The USGS Water Science School, 2016). A body can survive up to a month without food, but without water it can only survive about one week (All About Water, 2004). Unfortunately, water is a scarce resource, and there are about 1.1 billion people around the world without access to clean drinking water (World Water Council, 2016). As a result, we have declared a global water crisis and initiated a change to allow access to every human being on Earth. All around the globe people are striving to find ways to mend the global water crisis, but as the population rapidly increases, it becomes a problematic task. The following analyzation of the global water crisis will explain facts on the importance of clean water, the lack of access to water, diseases and environmental issues associated with unclean water and water shortages, and what we are doing to fix the global shortage of sanitary water around the world.

Why Do We Need Water? There are numerous reasons as to why we

A Project Proposal On Water Pollution Essay

Project Proposal Report by Aditya Shetty 1000019369 GDHM Academic Supervisor : Mr Peter Alexander Academic Leader : Dr Indrapriya

Kularatne Introduction Water is an indispensible part our daily existence and is the main element for existence of life on planet earth. Water is present everywhere around us; in air in soil almost everything. Even the human body is made up of 70 % and at loss of just 1 % water from the body humans feel thirst and at loss of 10 % face risk of losing life. Though water is readily available to us it is still the most valuable resource but its value is overlooked by most of us as it is readily available to us by virtue of nature. During the last few decades due to increase in industrialization agriculture and technology all have led to shortage of water in some parts of the world. Use and abuse of water has affected the water cycle in conjunction with other abuses of the environment resulting in climate changes, drought, floods, acid rains, desertification and other such problems. According to Narasaiah 2009 the consumption of water has increased ten folds between 1900 to 2000, 80% of diseases around the world are water related and by 2000, 51 % of the world population would be urban based where the problem is even worse. Thus there is need to address this problem through water conservation and it is not only the responsibility of the various governments but also the

The Shortage Of Water Shortage

Kuwait offers its citizens free education, including free food, clothing, books, stationery, and transportation, from kindergarten through the fourth year of college, so it is reasonable that literacy rate of total population is 96.3% (Central Intelligence Agency.) This phenomenon helps Kuwait save water, since people in the country having high education have the idea that water is precious for them and save water as possible as they can avoiding to waste. Furthermore, this policy enhances the chance of cultivating high–tech talents who can research and develop new techniques to relieve or solve water shortage. The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, founded in 1967 at Safat, promotes and conducts scientific research in the fields of food resources, water resources, oil sector support, and environmental studies (Kuwait – Science and technology).

To some extent, building public infrastructures can relive the pressure of water shortage. For instance, Kuwait has approved the construction of a series of desalination facilities and other infrastructure projects worth a total of around 3 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($9.9 billion), the finance ministry said on Saturday (Reuters, 2015). If these infrastructure projects are finished, it will benefit to both Kuwaiti and Kuwait. Another example is that Kuwait upgrade transforms Kuwait WWTP which will improve the plant 's production capacity from 375,000 to 600,000 cubic meters per day, making it the largest facility of its kind in

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Persuasive Speech : Water Conservation

Speech #4: Persuasive 2 Speech Outlines Guide Complete this form. Copy the entire contents of the form. Paste it into a new document. Save the new document as "lastnameHW7." Upload it to the Week 7 Homework Dropbox. Name: Micheal Boor WORKING OUTLINE Complete this outline using complete sentences. Topic: Water Conservation in the U.S. Specific purpose statement: To persuade my audience to take action in order to conserve one of the most finite and precious resources we have in the U.S. Thesis statement (central idea): Access and availability to fresh water are essential to the survival of the human race. Fresh water is a finite source and once it is gone, we have limited options to replenish it, so we must take action to conserve the fresh water we do have especially at home in the United States. Organizational pattern: Motivated Sequence (required) Attention Step

1.Attention–getter: Many of us in the United States take for granted that we would always have an infinite supply of fresh water. This is not true; the authors of the Gale Encyclopedia of Science, K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner wrote that, "less than 3% of water on Earth is fresh water" (Lerner and Lerner.)

2.Audience relevance: We all rely on access to fresh water for our very survival; from drinking water to hydroelectric dams, fresh water is an integral part of your everyday life.

3.Central idea: Access and availability to fresh water are essential to the survival of the human race. Fresh

One of the biggest problems in the world is water scarcity. Almost all countries suffer from it and many of them cannot find the most effective solution to avoid this difficulty. The meaning of the world water crisis is very easy to understand, but solving it is very difficult. The amount of world water is limited, as the population is growing fast; the necessity of water use is growing even faster. This essay will examine thewater crisis specifically in China, because it is the country with the most serious water shortage problems in the world. Also, this essay will suggest possible solutions on solving these problems and evaluate them. Although to stop the water shortage problems is difficult and costly, and takes a lot of ...show more content...

So according to Zhao, Liu, and Deng (2005), agriculture exploits almost 70 percent of freshwater available in China, and there is an expectation that this quantity will grow because of the increase of world food production. Chinese people need a comprehensive scientific approach with long–term, coordinated efforts to solve this serious problem. So the first possible solution is recycling water in order to meet environmental needs, provide an additional source of water and have sustainable development and a viable economy. For this approach the Chinese Government needs advanced technologies that clean the water properly and also huge investment, so this would lead to having a big impact on economic development of the country. However, according to Chang (2009), the water which has been recycled is an essential resource of water for "non–potable"(not for drinking) uses in China and this water can be used for flushing toilets, car washing, agricultural irrigation, fire fighting, landscape irrigation, industrial processes and street washing. But one major disadvantage of this approach is that after water recycling there is no proof of that this water is clean enough for reusing it. For example, there might be quite an amount of pollutants, such as some chemicals, bacteria, even heavy metals and organic compounds (Wang, 1989). So as consequences, there

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The Cause Of Water Crisis In The United States

Water is found everywhere on earth : from ice–covered lakes to tropical rains, yje surface of our planet is covered with almost three quarters of water. However, water is still one of the most precious resource for humanity : only 2.5% of water is pure. Water is therefore a renewable but no unlimited natural resource which is at the center of many debates : considered as the most sever threat in the world, water shortage crisis is spreading in the news. This essay will discuss the following : first, we will see how water is linked to everything; ten we will see thatwater crisis has a lot of repercussions on developing countries and their growth. Finally we will discuss Get

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Analysis Of Nash The Water Warrior

Water conservation is vital for human, plant and animal survival, it is a precious resource and must be sustained (Department of Health, 2017). Nash the Water Warrior is a Stage 1 picture book which highlights ways water is used at home, tips to save water, the importance of water sustainability and the responsibility for future generations (O'Rourke, 2017), incorporating the Stage 1 outcome "recognise the importance and relevance of science and technology in their lives now and for their future" (NESA, 2012). The story allows the readers to see the process and results of a fair test, giving the readers evidence based incentive to have inquiries, and be motivated to make changes regarding their water consumption, leading them to have admiration for the Earth resources.

The story links to the Stage 1 Science Syllabus as it "identifies ways that people use science in their daily lives to care for the environment and the Earth's resources ST19ES" (NESA, 2012). The story includes Water Wonders, these scientific facts are beneficial as they are relatable to the student's life (Cadek, 2009, p.87). Students can incorporate the knowledge learnt from the story to further their development in hands on (O'Rourke, 2017) investigations such as "how to clean water" (Skamp & Preston, 2015, p.517) and how to tell if water is clean? (Skamp & Preston, 2015).

The story illustrates Aboriginal culture including belief systems, spiritual and physical connection to water. Aboriginal people see Get more content