Question

Percentage of freshwater in hydrosphere is
A. Less than 10%
B. Less than 20%
C. Less than 3%
D. Less than 17%

Answer 1

Hint: The Earth is comprises of atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, etc. the atmosphere comprises of different gases involved in regulating the life forms, the biosphere comprises of the living and non-living things found on the Earth, and the hydrosphere comprises of the amount of water found in Earth in different forms.

Complete Answer:
- The hydrosphere is the total water amount on the Earth. It includes the water content on the surface of Earth, in the air, and underground. The hydrosphere can be liquid, ice or vapour.
- The liquid water is found on Earth in the form of ocean, rivers, and lakes. The hydrosphere is important for all the living things on Earth as it sustains various life forms and involves balancing of the ecosystem and atmospheric regulation, it covers all the water present on the surface of the Earth.
- The hydrosphere is formed once the Earth’s surface gets cooled, the water found in the minerals of the accreted materials get released inside and escape to the surface and in place of lost in space it gets condensed to form the initial hydrosphere.
- The hydrosphere plays a very important role in the existence of human life on Earth. It gives us drinking water, helps in the cultivation process, and provides us food and nutrients in the form of plants and fish. The hydrosphere is affected because of many human activities such as the discharge of petroleum, thermal pollution, and improper disposal of sewage and because of these the quality of hydrosphere gets affected.
- The three major problems associated with hydrosphere are eutrophication, acid rain, and greenhouse gases. So, the percentage of freshwater in the hydrosphere is less than 3%. The earth hydrosphere covers 71% that means the amount of water found on earth in which 30% of water is groundwater and rest is salt water.

Thus, the correct option is ‘C’. Less than 3%.

Note: The atmosphere is come first than hydrosphere as the hydrosphere is formed because of continuous cooling of the Earth and this results in the condensation of water vapour that already present in the atmosphere.