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Typically, fresh water is defined as water with a salinity of less than 1% that of the oceans – i.e. below around 0.35‰. Water with a salinity between this level and 1‰ is typically referred to as marginal water because it is marginal for many uses by humans and animals. The ratio of salt water to fresh water on Earth is around 50:1.
Fresh water is the water resource that is of the most and immediate use to humans. Fresh water is not always potable water, that is, water safe to drink by humans. Much of the earth's fresh water (on the surface and groundwater) is to a substantial degree unsuitable for human consumption without treatment.
Saltwater accounts for 97.5% of this amount, whereas fresh water accounts for only 2.5%. Of this fresh water, 68.9% is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in the Arctic, the Antarctic and mountain glaciers; 30.8% is in the form of fresh groundwater; and only 0.3% of the fresh water on Earth is in easily accessible lakes, reservoirs and ...
The Earth's water cycle. About 97.5% of the water on Earth is saline; the remaining 2.5% is fresh water. Most fresh water – about 69% – is present as ice in ice caps and glaciers. [20] The average salinity of Earth's oceans is about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of salt per kilogram of seawater (3.5% salt). [21]
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificially from other sources, such as from reclaimed water or desalinated water (). 97% of the water on Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh ...
The findings challenge the existing theory that the planet was completely covered by ocean four billion years ago.
This is a list of seas of the World Ocean, including marginal seas, areas of water, various gulfs, bights, bays, and straits. [2] In many cases it is a matter of tradition for a body of water to be named a sea or a bay, etc., therefore all these types are listed here.
Freshwater ecosystem. Freshwater ecosystems are a subset of Earth's aquatic ecosystems that include the biological communities inhabiting freshwater waterbodies such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, bogs, and wetlands. [1]