Because intermolecular forces known as hydrogen bonds cause attraction between water molecules, water has a set of certain properties that makes it so important. Water is cohesive, which causes surface tension. Some organisms, like water striders, use water's surface tension to their advantage. When water freezes, it actually becomes less dense than it is in liquid form. This property of water is beneficial to life in bodies of water because if this property did not exist, then bodies of water would freeze from the ground up instead of vice versa. Another one of these important properties of water is called high specific heat, which means that water can absorb or release large amounts of energy without varying in temperature a great deal. High specific heat allows bodies of water to maintain a relatively stable temperature, which is ideal for life living in that body of water. These hydrogen bonds also give water what is known as a high heat of vaporization, which means that many hydrogen bonds between water molecules need to be broken before water can evaporate. If water did not have this property, entire bodies of water could dry up much more easily. Water is able to move up plant roots against gravity because of a property called capillary action, which allows water to flow through narrow spaces because water is cohesive and adhesive; connected by hydrogen bonds, chains of water molecules are attracted to the surrounding surface, allowing water to flow up the xylem of plants. If this property did not exist, complex plant life could not either.
Work Cited: Ecology and Field Biology, 5th edition, pgs. 64-77