Earth contains over 321 million cubic miles of water, of which nearly 97% is found in the world’s oceans and seas. The remaining 3% is freshwater, with two-thirds of this being locked in glaciers and polar icecaps.
Approximately 30% is located in underground aquifers, with the remainder found in lakes, rivers, and swamps.
Where is more than 95% of water found on the earth?
More than 95% of the Earth’s water is located in oceans, seas, and other large bodies of salt water. This water can be found in the five major ocean basins—the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and Southern Ocean—which collectively account for 97.2 percent of the Earth’s surface water.
Additionally, nearly 70 percent of the Earth’s fresh water is locked in glaciers and snowpack. Groundwater accounts for about 30 percent of the Earth’s fresh water, and the remaining 0.3 percent of fresh water is found in the atmosphere, rivers, lakes and swamps.
What are the 3 main sources of water?
The three main sources of water are surface water, ground water, and recycled/reclaimed water.
Surface water includes rivers, lakes, and streams. These are the bodies of water found on the Earth’s surface and primarily come from rain, snow, and ice melt. It is a renewable resource; however, it can be affected by pollution and climate change.
Groundwater is found beneath the Earth’s surface, trapped in the tiny pores and cracks between soil and rock layers. It can be accessed through wells and springs and is the source of most of the world’s drinking water.
Groundwater can be replenished over time by surface water infiltration, but it is also susceptible to contamination from drilling and other human activities.
Recycled/reclaimed water refers to wastewater that has been treated to a certain quality standard, then reused in agricultural and industrial activities. This type of water is most often used in irrigation and can help reduce water demands and the use of precious drinking water.
It is important to note that recycled/reclaimed water is especially susceptible to contamination and requires careful monitoring.
What bodies of water cover 70% of the earth?
The majority of the Earth is covered in water, with 70% of the surface area containing oceans, seas, and other bodies of water. Oceans are the largest bodies of water, making up about 97% of the world’s total water supply.
The most well-known ocean is the Pacific Ocean, which covers an impressive 30% of the Earth’s surface. Other notable oceans include the Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic Oceans. Seas are smaller bodies of saltwater connected to an ocean.
Some prominent seas include the Mediterranean sea, the Baltic Sea, and the South China Sea. Other bodies of water include freshwater lakes and rivers. The five largest lakes by surface area are The Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, Lake Victoria, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan.
The majority of water on earth is not usable for agriculture or other human activities, with only 2.5% being fresh and accessible.
What cover 70% of the earth’s surface?
Seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water in the form of oceans, seas, and rivers. Oceans cover the most area at 140 million square miles, followed by seas at 35 million square miles.
The world’s five oceans are the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic. Shallow seas, including the Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico also make up a significant portion of the Earth’s water coverage.
Rivers, lakes, and reservoirs are the smallest portion of this, making up approximately 2 million square miles. The water on the Earth’s surface is essential to global ecological processes, such as climate regulation and nutrient cycles, as well as a source of drinking water and food.
What 3 places in the world have the most freshwater?
Three places in the world with the most freshwater are the Americas, Russia, and Africa.
In terms of the Americas, the United States is home to the largest amount of freshwater. The largest freshwater lake in the United States is Lake Michigan, which is 22,404 square miles. Large rivers like the Mississippi and its tributaries are also responsible for a significant amount of freshwater in the U.S. Other large bodies of freshwater in the Americas include Canada’s Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories, Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo, Brazil’s Rio Negro, and Peru’s Lake Titicaca.
In Russia, Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world, covering an area of 12,248 square miles. It contains roughly 20% of the world’s freshwater reserves and is home to the world’s only freshwater seal.
Other major freshwater bodies in Russia include Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe, and the Ob, Yenisei, and Volga rivers.
Finally, in Africa, the two largest freshwater bodies are Lake Victoria, located in East Africa, and the Congo River, located in Central Africa. Lake Victoria spans an area of 68,830 square kilometers and holds the title of the largest lake in Africa.
The Congo River is the second-largest river in the world and has over 1,500 tributaries and is over 4,000 miles long. Other significant freshwater lakes in Africa include Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi, and Lake Turkana.
Is 90 of the world’s freshwater in Antarctica?
No, only about 3-5% of the world’s freshwater is located in Antarctica. Antarctica is an incredibly dry continent and remains the world’s only continent without a natural supply of freshwater. The ice that covers Antarctica contains frozen sea water, and while it is technically considered freshwater, it is not able to be used for human consumption and other purposes until it is melted into liquid form.
The majority of the world’s freshwater is instead stored in glaciers, rivers, lakes, aquifers and underground layers of porous rock. Given the extreme temperatures present in Antarctica, much of the ice and snow freezes, adding to the vast ice sheets and preventing the continent from having significant amounts of available freshwater.
What is the largest fresh water source in the world?
The largest fresh water source in the world is the Antarctic Ice Sheet. It covers nearly 14 million square kilometers and holds around 90% of all the fresh water on Earth. It houses around 30 million cubic km of ice, more than having all the Earth’s river systems combined.
The large store of fresh water is surrounded by the Southern Ocean, which further helps to prevent the meltwater from draining off the continent. Its high elevation also makes it difficult for the water to escape, making it an ideal place to store large amounts of water on the planet.
What country holds 20% of freshwater?
Brazil holds the most freshwater out of any country in the world, accounting for roughly 20% of the planet’s total freshwater supply. This is due in part to Brazil’s unique geography, as the majority of its landmass consists of tropical forests, rivers, and wetlands.
The Amazon River—by far the world’s largest river—plays a significant role in this, as the majority of Brazil’s renewable freshwater resources come from the river. In addition to this, the country’s numerous lakes, streams, and reservoirs also contribute to its share of the world’s freshwater.
Brazil also hosts some of the most diverse climates and ecosystems in the world, which in turn are home to an incredibly rich variety of plant and animal life, as well as a plethora of aquatic habitats.
What would happen if Antarctica melted?
If Antarctica melted, it would have a massive and far-reaching impact on the world’s ecology and climate. Antarctica is a major contributor to global sea levels and holds around 70% of the world’s fresh water.
Antarctica also acts as a natural cooling system for the entire planet, so if it melted, global temperatures would rise significantly.
This would have a devastating effect on coastlines around the world. According to a recent study, if all of Antarctica were to melt, global sea levels would rise by approximately 58 meters (190 feet).
That would mean that large portions of the world’s coastlines would be submerged, displacing and devastating the lives of millions of people.
The loss of the ice sheets in Antarctica would also dramatically change the ocean’s ability to store and absorb carbon. The melting of the ice sheets would cause immense amounts of freshwater to enter the ocean, thus disrupting the ocean’s salinity and temperature.
This could have a huge impact on the ocean’s ability to sustain life, as well as its ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Additionally, the melting of Antarctica would have a direct effect on the weather patterns around the world. As the temperature of the ocean rises, air currents would be disrupted and new wind patterns would develop.
This could have a drastic effect on locations around the world, causing more extreme weather in the form of floods, droughts, and other devastating storms.
It’s clear that the melting of Antarctica would have a monumental impact on the planet in terms of sea levels, climate, ocean ecologies, and weather patterns. If the ice sheets in Antarctica melted, it would be a major disaster for humanity and the planet as a whole.
Why is 70% of the total freshwater on the Earth inaccessible for human use?
The majority (70%) of the total freshwater found on Earth is not accessible for human use because it is either locked away in glaciers and perennial snow packs, or located too deep beneath the Earth’s surface to reach.
Glaciers make up roughly 68.7% of the total freshwater on Earth, and are found mainly in polar ice caps and high mountain regions, away from areas of human habitation. Perennial snow packs account for an additional 1.7% of freshwater and can be found in mountainous regions, where they accumulate during the winter and slowly melt in the spring.
Then, the majority of the remaining 29.3% that is accessible to humans is located deep in underground aquifers, or trapped in the polar icecaps and difficult to mine.
The difficulty of accessing a large portion of the available freshwater on Earth means that humans must find other sources of water, such as rainwater harvesting, desalination of seawater, or using water collection and management systems in order to meet their needs.
Such alternatives can be time-consuming, costly, and may not yield the same quality as traditional freshwater sources. Additionally, due to the variable quality of water available from these sources, in some cases, chemical, biological, and physical treatment is needed prior to use in order to make it safe for consumption.
