EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The total volume of water on Earth is estimated at 1.386 billion km³ (333 million cubic miles), with 97.5% being salt water and 2.5% being fresh water. Of the fresh water, only 0.3% is in liquid form on the surface.

Detailed explanation-2: -Only about three percent of Earth’s water is freshwater. Of that, only about 1.2 percent can be used as drinking water; the rest is locked up in glaciers, ice caps, and permafrost, or buried deep in the ground. Most of our drinking water comes from rivers and streams.

Detailed explanation-3: -3% of the earth’s water is fresh. 2.5% of the earth’s fresh water is unavailable: locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps, atmosphere, and soil; highly polluted; or lies too far under the earth’s surface to be extracted at an affordable cost.

Detailed explanation-4: -In the first bar, notice how only 2.5% of Earth’s water is freshwater-the amount needed for life to survive.

Detailed explanation-5: -Fresh water makes up under 3% of all water on earth, and nearly 65% of this drinkable water is tied up in glaciers. Rivers, streams, lakes, and dams that hold freshwater contain 1% of potable water while groundwater accounts for 0.3%.