1.2 Distribution of Water on the Earth

Over 75 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. The vast majority of that is in the oceans and is unfit for human consumption. Most of the freshwater is locked up in the ice caps and in glaciers. Usable, available freshwater—in lakes and rivers on the surface and in reservoirs underground—makes up less than one percent of the water in the world.

The distribution of the world’s water is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 ‑ Distribution of the world’s water