Almost impossible shades of monochromatic blues are found inside the ancient ice of glaciers. Water has an intrinsic blue color that results from its molecular structure, a fortuitous union of oxygen and hydrogen (O-H) that absorbs the red portions of the solar spectrum, leaving the extreme blue end of the color spectrum in the structure of the crystallized water. This is what makes ice absorb heat, in the form of infrared rays; it is the ultraviolet rays reflected by ice and snow that burn our skin.

Without a doubt, if the Sun becomes yellower, or redder, the planet will turn back into a ball of snow.

We see water in a number of ways, but transparency is not synonymous with purity, because the water we consume, which if we are lucky is potable, can contain a whole range of toxic and unwanted particles, just as transparent as pure, crystalline water. Conversely, the absence of color is a sign that no nutrients are dispersed throughout the water, as occurs in the most pristine areas of our planet when rivers take on the color of tea or coffee.

But most of the time, water is polluted. We know that there are now islands of plastic in the oceans, that they are starting to change the map of the world, and that there are rivers that are completely polluted.

More than 400 million human beings now live on the banks of the Ganges, which in the past was one of the world’s most sacred rivers. We have invented an absurd reality. Instead of biodegrading as is natural, we have created things that remain active for millennia, like radioactivity and almost all industrial waste. On the other hand, things that should last, like wisdom or objects for everyday use, do not last. They break. This tells us that our societies can justly boast of having much technology, little art and no philosophy.

Malo accepto stultus sapit (having experienced trouble, a fool becomes wise). I hope that this observation will come true as soon as possible.