How much fresh water are there on Earth?

If the Earth were flat, it would be covered with a 2700 meter thick layer of water. Of this, 70 meter would be fresh water, of which only 20 meters would be free water that is not tied up in ice!

There is an incredible amount of water on the Earth and in the atmosphere. It is estimated that there are 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water, of which 42 million cubic kilometers is fresh water. Most fresh water is tied up in ice in glaciers and at the poles.

Only 1% of the fresh water is considered to be accessible to people, animals and plants. It is believed that 50% of this is used.

So there is plenty of fresh water available for today's life forms, and it also seems to be a real possibility to be able to use more water.

A major problem is that the resources are unevenly distributed. In many of the world's most populated parts the water resources are most scarce. The warm climate makes it favourable for people to live, but the water supply is low.