Fresh Surface Water

In your own words describe what is happening in this animation.

Fresh surface water.

Of all the water on earth more than 99 percent of earth s water is unusable by humans and many other living things. Fresh water is not always potable water that is water safe to drink. The occurrence of surface water in abundance is unique to planet earth among the inner or terrestrial planets. Surface water is any body of water above ground including streams rivers lakes wetland s reservoirs and creeks.

Fresh surface water sources such as rivers and lakes only constitute about 22 300 cubic miles 93 100 cubic kilometers which is about 1 150th of one percent of total water. These fresh surface waters sustain ecological systems and provide habitat for many plant and animal species. The main uses of surface water include drinking water and other public uses irrigation uses and for use by the thermoelectric power industry to cool electricity generating equipment. Fresh water can easily become polluted by human activities or due to naturally occurring processes such as erosion.

Be sure to explain how this animation compares to your lab experience. Groundwater is an important part of the water cycle. Fresh surface water theme is a component of encyclopedia of water sciences engineering and technology resources in the global encyclopedia of life support systems eolss which is an integrated compendium of twenty one encyclopedias. Surface water participates in the hydrologic cycle or water cycle which involves the movement of water to and from the earth s surface.

The ocean despite being saltwater is also considered surface water. Over 68 percent of the fresh water on earth is found in icecaps and glaciers and just over 30 percent is found in ground water. View this animation clip to take a closer look at the mississippi watershed notice that the clip is silent. The water started from the first.

Goal learned about the various forms of surface water on earth explored a variety of ways water is used investigated the various parts of a watershed located and described your own watershed explored methods of. Surface water kevin edwards earth space science. Importance of fresh surface waters lakes ponds rivers and streams hold less than one thousandth of a percent of the water on the planet but they serve many critical functions for the environment and for human life.