Table of Contents
- Distribution of water on earth
- Water pollution
- Summary
- What’s Next?
In the previous segment of the chapter ‘Natural Resources,’ we learned about Smog and Air pollution. In this segment let us get ourselves introduced to water and water pollution.
How is water distributed on earth?
We know that around 71% of the earth is covered with water.
About 97% of this is saltwater and the remaining 3% is fresh water. About 69 % of the freshwater is frozen in the ice caps and glaciers. And the remaining 30% of this 3% is present as soil moisture, or lies deep underground and is not accessible for human use. So only about 1% of this freshwater is accessible for direct human uses! This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. Even this 1% of freshwater is not available everywhere. Therefore, there are some places which suffer from water shortage.
Distribution of water on earth
