How much percentage of water is on earth

Most of the water people and life on earth need every day comes from these surface-water sources. The volume of this sphere is about 22, mi 3 93, km 3.

The diameter of this sphere is about Yes, Lake Michigan looks way bigger than this sphere, but you have to try to imagine a bubble almost 35 miles high—whereas the average depth of Lake Michigan is less than feet 91 meters.

The vast majority of water on the Earth's surface, over 96 percent, is saline water in the oceans. The freshwater resources, such as water falling from the skies and moving into streams, rivers, lakes, and groundwater, provide people with the water they need every day to live. Water sitting on the surface of the Earth is easy to visualize, and your view of the water cycle might be that rainfall fills up the rivers and lakes.

But, the unseen water below our feet is critically important to life, also. How do you account for the flow in rivers after weeks without rain?

In fact, how do you account for the water flowing down a driveway on a day when it didn't rain? The answer is that there is more to our water supply than just surface water, there is also plenty of water beneath our feet.

Even though you may only notice water on the Earth's surface, there is much more freshwater stored in the ground than there is in liquid form on the surface. In fact, some of the water you see flowing in rivers comes from seepage of groundwater into river beds. Water from precipitation continually seeps into the ground to recharge aquifers , while at the same time water in the ground continually recharges rivers through seepage.

Humans are happy this happens because we make use of both kinds of water. In the United States in , we used about billion gallons 1, billion liters of surface water per day,and about Although surface water is used more to supply drinking water and to irrigate crops, groundwater is vital in that it not only helps to keep rivers and lakes full, it also provides water for people in places where visible water is scarce, such as in desert towns of the western United States.

Without groundwater, people would be sand-surfing in Palm Springs, California instead of playing golf. For a detailed explanation of where Earth's water is, look at the data table below. Notice how of the world's total water supply of about Of total freshwater, over 68 percent is locked up in ice and glaciers. Another 30 percent of freshwater is in the ground. Note: Percentages may not sum to percent due to rounding.

One estimate of global water distribution Percents are rounded, so will not add to Earth's water is almost everywhere: above the Earth in the air and clouds and on the surface of the Earth in rivers, oceans, ice, plants, and in living organisms. But did you know that water is also inside the Earth? Read on to learn more.

Earth's water is always in movement, and the natural water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. Water is always changing states between liquid, vapor, and ice, with these processes happening in the blink of an eye and over millions of years. Our interactive diagrams allow you to "mouse around" the parts of the water cycle and view explanations, pictures, and more.

Yes, of course the most obvious fact about water is that it is wet, at least in the liquid state. But, there are many more facts about water that make it a most fascinating substance, one that all life on and in the Earth depends on. That's 65 glasses of water every day for a year. There are about 10 million acres of lawn in the U. That's enough to give every person in the world a shower for four days in a row.

Most lawns only need an inch of water each week. A spilled gallon of gasoline can pollute , gallons of water. Tyler Miller Jr. How fast does the earth rotate? How does this compare to the rotation of other planets? At what speed does the earth travel on its orbit around the sun? What would happen if the earth's rotation was faster or slower?

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