Where is all this Water?

As we have previously learned, on Earth there are more than 300 million cubic miles of water (current approximation is 332.5 million cubic miles) .  The 332.5 million cubic miles of water is equal to 366 quadrillion gallons of water!  Now we must consider where all this water is.  Let’s look at the basic sources.  First the obvious ones: oceans, lakes, rivers, and clouds.  There are 2 not so obvious but significant sources of water: Glaciers and groundwater.

So where is all this water?  Let’s get the  breakdown from the USGS  (United States Geological Survey) water education page.

The Oceans contain  96 – 97 % of all the water on Earth.

Lakes, Rivers, Groundwater, Clouds and Glaciers contain the other 3 – 4 %

Of the 3 – 4% of water contained in lakes, rivers, groundwater, clouds and glaciers, about 98% of that water is in the forms of glaciers, permafrost, and unavailable groundwater (some groundwater is available and others are not).  This leaves less than 1% of water on Earth for use by all humans, animals and plants.

So, let’s think about water!

Sources:

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html