25/3/2020 ¿Cuánta agua hay en la tierra?

Escuela de ciencias del agua

¿Cuánta agua hay en la tierra?

¿Dónde está el El ciclo del agua Conceptos básicos
agua de la tierra? de agua por tema

El ciclo del agua

Agua de la tierra Temas

La tierra es un lugar acuoso. Pero, ¿cuánta agua existe en, Estado:

dentro y sobre nuestro planeta? Sigue leyendo para averiguarlo. COMPLETADO

• Escuela de Ciencias del Agua INICIO • Temas básicos del agua •

¿Cuánta agua hay sobre, dentro y sobre la Contactos

Tierra?
Pregunte a USGS
Toda el agua de la Tierra, agua dulce líquida y agua en lagos y ríos.
https://answers.usgs.gov
La tierra es un lugar
acuoso. Pero, ¿cuánta
agua existe en, dentro y
sobre nuestro planeta?
Alrededor del 71 por
Explore más
ciento de la superficie de ciencia
la Tierra está cubierta de Agua
agua, y los océanos cuánta agua
contienen alrededor del El agua de la tierra
96.5 por ciento de toda el Fundamentos del agua
agua de la Tierra. El Datos sobre el agua que
agua también existe en el nos rodea
aire como vapor de Water Cycle Processes
agua , en ríos y lagos Water
, en casquetes polares y
glaciares , en el suelo
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25/3/2020 ¿Cuánta agua hay en la tierra?

como humedad del suelo

y en acuíferos , e
incluso en usted y su
perro.

El agua nunca se queda

quieta. Gracias al ciclo
del agua, el suministro de
agua de nuestro planeta
se mueve
constantemente de un
lugar a otro y de una
forma a otra. ¡Las cosas
se pondrían bastante
rancias sin el ciclo del
agua!

Toda el agua
de la Tierra en
una burbuja.
La ilustración del globo Esferas que muestran :
muestra esferas azules (1) Toda el agua (esfera más grande sobre el oeste de
que representan los EE. UU., 860 millas (1.385 kilómetros) de
cantidades relativas de diámetro)
agua de la Tierra en (2) Agua líquida fresca en el suelo, lagos, pantanos y
comparación con el ríos (esfera de tamaño medio sobre Kentucky, 169.5
tamaño de la Tierra. ¿Te millas (272,8 kilómetros) de diámetro) y
sorprende que estas (3) lagos y ríos de agua dulce (esfera más pequeña
esferas de agua se vean sobre Georgia, 34,9 millas i (56,2 kilómetros) n de
tan pequeñas? Solo son diámetro).
pequeños en relación
con el tamaño de la Crédito: Howard Perlman , USGS ; ilustración del
Tierra. Esta imagen globo por Jack Cook , Institución Oceanográfica
intenta mostrar tres Woods Hole ( © ); y Adam Nieman .
dimensiones, por lo que
cada esfera representa el
"volumen". El volumen de la esfera más grande, que representa toda el agua en,
dentro y sobre la Tierra, sería de aproximadamente 332,500,000 millas cúbicas (mi 3
) (1,386,000,000 de kilómetros cúbicos (km 3 )), y sería de aproximadamente 860
millas (aproximadamente 1,385 kilómetros) en diámetro.

La esfera más pequeña sobre Kentucky representa el agua dulce líquida de la Tierra
en aguas subterráneas, pantanos, ríos y lagos. El volumen de esta esfera sería de
aproximadamente 2,551,000 mi 3 (10,633,450 km 3 ) y formaría una esfera de
aproximadamente 169.5 millas (272.8 kilómetros) de diámetro. Sí, toda esta agua es
agua dulce, que todos necesitamos todos los días, pero gran parte está en el suelo,
no está disponible para los humanos.

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25/3/2020 ¿Cuánta agua hay en la tierra?

Do you notice the "tiny" bubble over Atlanta, Georgia? That one represents fresh
water in all the lakes and rivers on the planet. Most of the water people and life on
earth need every day comes from these surface-water sources. The volume of this
sphere is about 22,339 mi3 (93,113 km3). The diameter of this sphere is about 34.9
miles (56.2 kilometers). Yes, Lake Michigan looks way bigger than this sphere, but
you have to try to imagine a bubble almost 35 miles high—whereas the average
depth of Lake Michigan is less than 300 feet (91 meters).

Water is on and in the Earth

The vast majority of water on the Earth's surface, over 96 percent, is saline water in
the oceans. The freshwater resources, such as water falling from the skies and
moving into streams, rivers, lakes, and groundwater, provide people with the water
they need every day to live. Water sitting on the surface of the Earth is easy to
visualize, and your view of the water cycle might be that rainfall fills up
the rivers and lakes. But, the unseen water below our feet is critically important to
life, also. How do you account for the flow in rivers after weeks without rain? In fact,
how do you account for the water flowing down a driveway on a day when it didn't
rain? The answer is that there is more to our water supply than just surface water,
there is also plenty of water beneath our feet.

Even though you may

only notice water on the
Earth's surface, there is
much more freshwater
stored in the
ground than there is in
Learn more at the Water Science School
liquid form on the
surface. In fact, some of Where is Earth's Water?
the water you see flowing The natural water cycle for schools and kids
in rivers comes from The natural water cycle for advanced students
seepage of groundwater and adults
into river beds. Water Teacher's resources for water education
from precipitation
continually seeps into the
ground to recharge aquifers, while at the same time water in the ground continually
recharges rivers through seepage.

Humans are happy this happens because we make use of both kinds of water. In the
United States in 2010, we used about 275 billion gallons (1,041 billion liters) of
surface water per day,and about 79.3 billion gallons (300.2 billion liters) of
groundwater per day. Although surface water is used more to supply drinking water
and to irrigate crops, groundwater is vital in that it not only helps to keep rivers and
lakes full, it also provides water for people in places where visible water is scarce,
such as in desert towns of the western United States. Without groundwater, people
would be sand-surfing in Palm Springs, California instead of playing golf.

How much water is there on (and in) the Earth? Here are some numbers you can
think about:

If all of Earth's water (oceans, icecaps and glaciers, lakes, rivers,

groundwater, and water in the atmosphere was put into a sphere, then the
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25/3/2020 ¿Cuánta agua hay en la tierra?

diameter of that water ball would be about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers),
a bit more than the distance between Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas.
The volume of all water would be about 332.5 million cubic miles (mi3), or
1,386 million cubic kilometers (km3). A cubic mile of water equals more than
1.1 trillion gallons. A cubic kilometer of water equals about 264 billion gallons
(999 billion liters).
About 3,100 mi3 (12,900 km3) of water, mostly in the form of water vapor, is in
the atmosphere at any one time. If it all fell as precipitation at once, the Earth
would be covered with only about 1 inch of water.
The 48 contiguous (lower 48 states) United States receives a total volume of
about 4 mi3 (17.7 km3) of precipitation each day.
Each day, 280 mi3 (1,170 km3)of water evaporate or transpire into the
atmosphere.
If all of the world's water was poured on the contiguous United States, it would
cover the land to a depth of about 107 miles (145 kilometers).
Of the freshwater on Earth, much more is stored in the ground than is
available in rivers and lakes. More than 2,000,000 mi3 (8,400,000 km3) of
freshwater is stored in the Earth, most within one-half mile of the surface. But,
if you really want to find freshwater, most is stored in the 7,000,000
mi3 (29,200,000 km3) of water found in glaciers and icecaps, mainly in the
polar regions and in Greenland.

Where is Earth's water located?

For a detailed explanation of where Earth's water is, look at the data table below.
Notice how of the world's total water supply of about 332.5 million mi3 of water, over
96 percent is saline. Of total freshwater, over 68 percent is locked up in ice and
glaciers. Another 30 percent of freshwater is in the ground. Rivers are the source of
most of the fresh surface water people use, but they only constitute about 509
mi3 (2,120 km3), about 1/10,000th of one percent of total water.
Note: Percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

One estimate of global water distribution

(Percents are rounded, so will not add to 100)

Water source Water volume, in cubic miles Water v

Oceans, Seas, & Bays 321,000,000 1,338,00

Ice caps, Glaciers, & Permanent Snow 5,773,000 24,064,0

Groundwater 5,614,000 23,400,0

Fresh 2,526,000 10,530,0

Saline 3,088,000 12,870,0

Soil Moisture 3,959 16,500

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25/3/2020 ¿Cuánta agua hay en la tierra?

Water source Water volume, in cubic miles Water v

Ground Ice & Permafrost 71,970 300,000

Lakes 42,320 176,400

Fresh 21,830 91,000

Saline 20,490 85,400

Atmosphere 3,095 12,900

Swamp Water 2,752 11,470

Rivers 509 2,120

Biological Water 269 1,120

Source: Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World fresh water resources" in Peter H. Gleick
(editor), 1993, Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources
(Oxford University Press, New York).

Sources and more information:

NASA Earth Observatory

El ciclo hidrológico, folleto del USGS, 1984

Related Water Science School pages:

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Date published: JUNE 6, 2018

Status: Completed

Where is Earth's Water?

"Water, Water, Everywhere..." You've heard the phrase, and for water, it really is
true. Earth's water is (almost) everywhere: above the Earth in the air and clouds
and on the surface of the Earth in rivers, oceans, ice, plants, and in living
organisms. But did you know that water is also inside the Earth? Read on to learn
more.

Contacts: Ask USGS

Date published: NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Status: Completed

The Water Cycle for Adults and Advanced Students

Earth's water is always in movement, and the natural water cycle, also known as the
hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the
surface of the Earth. Water is always changing states between liquid, vapor, and ice, with
these processes happening in the blink of an eye and over millions of years.

Note: This section of the Water Science School...

Contacts: Ask USGS

Date published: SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

Status: Completed

The Water Cycle for Schools and Kids

Earth's water is always in movement, and the natural water cycle, also known as the
hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the
surface of the Earth. Water is always changing states between liquid, vapor, and ice, with
these processes happening in the blink of an eye and over millions of years.

Note: This section of the Water Science School...

Contacts: Ask USGS

Date published: SEPTEMBER 25, 2018

Status: Completed

Interactive Water Cycle Diagrams for Schools and Kids

Our interactive diagrams allow you to "mouse around" the parts of the water cycle and
view explanations, pictures, and more.

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25/3/2020 ¿Cuánta agua hay en la tierra?

Contacts: Ask USGS

Date published: JUNE 8, 2018

Status: Completed

Facts About Water

Yes, of course the most obvious fact about water is that it is wet, at least in the liquid state.
But, there are many more facts about water that make it a most fascinating substance, one
that all life on and in the Earth depends on.

Contacts: Ask USGS

Attribution: Water Resources

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