Mastering the Commodities Markets

MAJOR WATER RESOURCES

But just how much water is there on Earth and where is it? Table 12.1 shows the distribution of the main sources of the world’s water. The Earth has approximately 1.4 billion cubic kilometres of water, spread over a wide variety of forms and locations. Of this water, the vast majority (nearly 97 per cent) is saltwater in the oceans. The world’s total freshwater reserves are estimated at around 35 million cubic kilometres. Most of this, however, is locked up in glaciers and permanent snow cover, or in deep groundwater, inaccessible to humans (see Table 12.1).

Table 12.1 Distribution of the world’s water

Source: Shiklomanov ...