Earth Water Distribution

 

Earth Physical Characteristics and Water distribution

    Earth is the planet where we live. It is the third planet among the eight planets of Sun and fifth largest
among them. It is the only planet where human and other species can live. Essential substances like air, water and land supports life on earth. Earth is made of rocks and came into existence 4.7 billion of year ago. A day on earth is not 24 hours, its actually 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds. Earth is the only planet in the Solar System that has a large amount of liquid water. About 29.2% of Earth's surface is land consisting of continents and islands. The remaining 70.8% is covered with water. Because of this, people sometimes call it the blue planet.

Earth Physical Characteristics are as :

Earth Radius : 6,357 to 6,378 km

Earth Circumference : 40,075 km

Earth Mass : 5.972 × 10^24 kg

Earth Volume :1,083,206,916,846 cubic kilometers

   Distribution of Water on the Earth

    The distribution of water on the Earth's surface is extremely uneven. Only 2.5% of water on the surface is fresh which is the amount needed for life to survive and the remaining 97.5% resides salty water in in the oceans. The oceans also play a vital role in the hydrologic cycle, in regulating the global climate, and in providing habitats for thousands of marine species.

    Freshwater is water that contains little or no dissolved salt. Most freshwater is frozen in ice caps and glaciers which is about 69% of fresh water. On the Earth's surface, there is much more freshwater stored in the ground (30%) than there is in liquid form on the surface and vapour form in atmosphere (0.4%). Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer on or under Earth's surface. It consists of soil, gravel, and sand, usually bound together by ice. Permafrost usually remains at or below 0°C (32ºF) for at least two years which contains 0.8% of fresh water.

 

    Surface waters can be simply described as the water that is on the surface of the Earth. This includes the oceans, rivers and streams, lakes, and reservoirs. Surface waters are very important. They constitute approximately 80 percent of the water used on a daily basis. The Most of this water found in lakes about 67.4% of surface fresh water. Rivers make up 1.6% of surface freshwater. Soil moisture contains 12.2% of surface fresh water. Atmosphere, Wetlands contains 9.5% and 8.5% of surface fresh water. Plants and animals i.e. all living organisms contains 0.8% of surface water.

Interesting Facts about Water :

• World Water Day 22 March.
• 1 liter water weigh 1kg  at 39.2⁰ Celsius.
• Water regulates the Earth’s Temperature.
• Water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid.   
• One inch of rain is equal to 10 inches of snow.                                   
• We have the same amount of water on Earth now as there was when Earth was formed. 
• Water on earth is so ancient that every time you are probably drinking a water molecule that has been swallowed by a dinosaur. 

 

Water and Human body :

• Human can survive without water up to 7 days, this can be change according to factors like age, health, activity, atmosphere.
• The human body is roughly 70% water.
• The brain is 80% water.
• The heart is 73% water.
• The lungs are 83% water.
• The skin is 64% water.
• The kidneys are 79% water.
• The bones are 31% water.