AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -About 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth’s water.

Detailed explanation-2: -Over 68 percent of the fresh water on Earth is found in icecaps and glaciers, and just over 30 percent is found in ground water. Only about 0.3 percent of our fresh water is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers, and swamps.

Detailed explanation-3: -Viewed from space, one of the most striking features of our home planet is the water, in both liquid and frozen forms, that covers approximately 75% of the Earth’s surface. Geologic evidence suggests that large amounts of water have likely flowed on Earth for the past 3.8 billion years-most of its existence.

Detailed explanation-4: -Over 97 percent of the earth’s water is found in the oceans as salt water. Two percent of the earth’s water is stored as fresh water in glaciers, ice caps, and snowy mountain ranges. That leaves only one percent of the earth’s water available to us for our daily water supply needs.

Detailed explanation-5: -The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the surface of our planet. It’s hard to imagine, but about 97 percent of the Earth’s water can be found in our ocean.