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How Much Of The Earth's Surface Is Land And How Much Is Water?

Posted by enotes on October 10, 2011 at 12:00 AM and tagged with science, the earth

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Land covers 29.22 percent of the Earth's surface. This is about 57.5 million square miles (149 x 106 square kilometers). Water covers the other 70.78 percent of the Earth's surface. This is about 139.4 million square miles (361 x 106 square kilometers).

Source: Barnes-Svarney, Patricia. The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference, p. 372.

Posted by fact-finder on October 11, 2011 at 12:00 AM

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agasmith96

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High School - 10th Grade

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I believe that the percentage of land is closer to 20% rather than 30. Land covers around 20% of the earth's surface and water the other 80%.

97% of the world's water is seawater, and only 3% is fresh water.

Only 1% of the earth's water is suitable for drinking.

And only about 0.08% of the world's drinkable water is accessible to humans.

Posted by agasmith96 on November 18, 2011 at 1:29 AM

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