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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.
Water scarcity is also caused by production of water intensive products. For example, cotton: 1 kg of cotton—equivalent of a pair of jeans—requires 10.9 cubic metres (380 cu ft) water to produce. While cotton accounts for 2.4% of world water use, the water is consumed in regions that are already at a risk of water shortage.
Most of Earth's surface is ocean water: 70.8% or 361 million km 2 (139 million sq mi). [97] This vast pool of salty water is often called the world ocean, [98] [99] and makes Earth with its dynamic hydrosphere a water world [100] [101] or ocean world. [102] [103] Indeed, in Earth's early history the ocean may have covered Earth completely. [104]
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 ...
Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean.On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximately 35 grams (1.2 oz) of dissolved salts (predominantly sodium (Na +
According to Lunine, "oceans" have been defined as "stable, globe-girdling bodies of liquid water." [13] In addition, "Ocean worlds is the label given to objects in the solar system that host stable, globe-girdling bodies of liquid water," in contrast to the terms "'ocean planet' and 'water world', both of which refer to exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars) with substantial mass fractions ...
The entire ocean, containing 97% of Earth's water, spans 70.8% of Earth's surface, [8] making it Earth's global ocean or world ocean. [23] [25] This makes Earth, along with its vibrant hydrosphere a "water world" [43] [44] or "ocean world", [45] [46] particularly in Earth's early history when the ocean is thought to have possibly covered Earth ...
Hydrated silicates on the surface transport water into the mantle at convergent plate boundaries, where oceanic crust is subducted underneath continental crust. While it is difficult to estimate the total water content of the mantle due to limited samples, approximately three times the mass of the Earth's oceans could be stored there. [22]