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Most water in Earth's atmosphere and crust comes from saline seawater, while fresh water accounts for nearly 1% of the total. The vast bulk of the water on Earth is saline or salt water, with an average salinity of 35‰ (or 3.5%, roughly equivalent to 34 grams of salts in 1 kg of seawater), though this varies slightly according to the amount of runoff received from surrounding land.
Fresh water makes up less than 3% of the world's water resources, and just 1% of that is readily available. Just 3% of it is extracted for human consumption. Agriculture uses roughly two thirds of all fresh water extracted from the environment. [1] [2] [3] Fresh water is a renewable and variable, but finite natural resource.
The aim of water security is to make the most of water's benefits for humans and ecosystems. The second aim is to limit the risks of destructive impacts of water to an acceptable level. [ 1 ][ 2 ] These risks include for example too much water (flood), too little water (drought and water scarcity) or poor quality (polluted) water. [ 1 ]
Share of the population without access to an improved water source, 2020. Global access to clean water is a significant global challenge that affects the health, well-being, and development of people worldwide. While progress has been made in recent years, millions of people still lack access to safe and clean drinking water sources.
A mere 0.014% of all water on Earth is both fresh and easily accessible. [34] Of the remaining water, 97% is saline, and a little less than 3% is difficult to access. The fresh water available to us on the planet is around 1% of the total water on earth. [35] The total amount of easily accessible freshwater on Earth is 14,000 cubic kilometers.
Only 2.5–2.75% is fresh water, including 1.75–2% frozen in glaciers, ice and snow, 0.5–0.75% as fresh groundwater and soil moisture, and less than 0.01% of it as surface water in lakes, swamps and rivers. Freshwater lakes contain about 87% of this fresh surface water, including 29% in the African Great Lakes, 22% in Lake Baikal in Russia ...
People need fresh water for survival, personal care, agriculture, industry, and commerce. The 2019 UN World Water Development report noted that about four billion people, representing nearly two-thirds of the world population, experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. [6]
Water metering might benefit society by providing a financial incentive to avoid waste in water use. [20] Some researchers have suggested that water conservation efforts should be primarily directed at farmers, in light of the fact that crop irrigation accounts for 70% of the world's fresh water use. [21]