Q. With reference to the water on the planet Earth, consider the following statements:- The amount of water in the rivers and lakes is more than the amount of groundwater.
- The amount of water in polar ice caps and glaciers is more than the amount of groundwater.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (UPSC Prelims 2021)
Answer:
2 only
Notes: The correct answer is
[B] 2 only.
Statement 1 (Incorrect):
The amount of water in rivers and lakes is
far less than the amount of
groundwater. Groundwater accounts for approximately
30.1% of Earth’s
freshwater, whereas all surface freshwater (lakes, rivers, and swamps combined)
makes up only about
1.2%. In particular, rivers contain an extremely
small fraction—about
0.0002% of total water.
Statement 2 (Correct):
The amount of water in polar ice caps and glaciers is
greater than that
in groundwater. Glaciers and ice caps hold the largest share of Earth’s
freshwater, roughly
68.7%, compared to
30.1% in groundwater.
|
Source
|
Percentage of Freshwater
|
|
Glaciers and Ice Caps
|
~68.7%
|
|
Groundwater
|
~30.1%
|
|
Surface Water & Other
|
~1.2%
|
|
└─ Lakes
|
~0.26%
|
|
└─ Rivers
|
~0.006%
|
Since about
97% of Earth’s total water is saline
(in oceans), these figures refer only to the remaining
3% that is
freshwater. Within this freshwater, the order from largest to smallest
storage is:
Ice caps/Glaciers > Groundwater > Lakes >
Soil Moisture > Atmosphere > Rivers.