Did you know that the total amount of fresh water on Earth makes up only 2.5% of the planet’s total water supply (fresh + salt)?

This 2.5% amounts to 35,000,000,000,000,000,000 (35 quintillion) liters of fresh water. This water is essential for human use and life on land.

This water is distributed as follows:

• Glaciers and ice caps (68.7%): The permanent snow and ice layers in the polar regions, permafrost, and
• Groundwater (30%): Groundwater and soil moisture, often deep in the ground, making it difficult to access.
• Surface water (1.2%): Lakes, rivers, and wetlands.

The fact that surface water accounts for only 1.2% means that less than 1% of the Earth’s fresh water is available for human use.

The photo accompanying this article is from Pexels.