Post by Xxsuperheroxx on Dec 30, 2022 17:15:46 GMT -6
www.universetoday.com/65588/what-percent-of-earth-is-water/
The water on the surface of our planet covers 71 percent of the surface with 29 percent making up the dry land. 95.5 percent of that water is salt water in our oceans and only 3.5 is freshwater. 69 percent of that 3.5 percent of freshwater is frozen ice locked up in glaciers and the polar ice caps. When the glaciers and ice caps melt that 69 percent of our freshwater would turn in to saltwater reduce our now 3.5 percent of freshwater to around 1.2 percent freshwater in lakes and rivers.
Aside from the water that exists in ice form, there is also the staggering amount of water that exists beneath the Earth’s surface. If you were to gather all the Earth’s fresh water together as a single mass (as shown in the image above) it is estimated that it would measure some 1,386 million cubic kilometers (km3) in volume.
Meanwhile, the amount of water that exists as groundwater, rivers, lakes, and streams would constitute just over 10.6 million km3, which works out to a little over 0.7%. Seen in this context, the limited and precious nature of freshwater becomes truly clear.
Volume vs. Mass:
But how much of Earth is water – i.e. how much water contributes to the actual mass of the planet? This includes not just the surface of the Earth, but inside as well. In terms of volume, all of the water on Earth works out to about 1.386 billion cubic kilometers (km³) or 332.5 million cubic miles (mi³) of space.
But in terms of mas, scientists calculate that the oceans on Earth weight about 1.35 x 1018 metric tonnes (1.488 x 1018 US tons), which is the equivalent of 1.35 billion trillion kg, or 2976 trillion trillion pounds. This is just 1/4400 the total mass of the Earth, which means that while the oceans cover 71% of the Earth’s surface, they only account for 0.02% of our planet’s total mass.
www.universetoday.com/65588/what-percent-of-earth-is-water/
There are 5 Zones of Floating Plastic Trash in the Ocean
Off the West Coast of North America, between California and Hawaii is an area of ocean that creates a kind of vortex – where ocean plastic, microplastics and debris collects. It’s been dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and it’s well known.
But did you know there are 5 of these zones globally? Alone the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas, all 5 zones together are much larger.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recently called for a national strategy by the end of this year (2022) to reduce plastic marine pollution. The report states that globally, every minute a garbage truck sized load of plastic is dumped in the ocean.
The US is the main offender as the leading plastic polluter in the world.
by 2050, marine plastic waste will have skyrocketed in growth. Just 28 years from now at the current rate of growth we can expect to quadruple the amount of plastic in the ocean.
The study is calling it an extinction-level event for thousands of species of marine life. Some of those species include sea turtles, dolphins, and seals.
According to the University of Autonoma de Barcelona, we have underestimated the amount of microplastics in the ocean. Because most samples were taken in coastal regions, and not in open sea – the data is not accurate. The actual concentration is much higher than we dreamed possible.
One Dutch study discovered microplastics in the human bloodstream.
www.dw.com/en/fukushima-how-the-ocean-became-a-dumping-ground-for-radioactive-waste
Atomic bomb tests
In 1946, the US became the first country to test an atomic bomb in a marine area, in the Pacific Bikini Atoll. Over the next few decades, more than 250 further nuclear weapons tests were carried out on the high seas. Most of them (193) were conducted by France in French Polynesia, and by the US (42), primarily in the Marshall Islands and the Central Pacific.
By 1991, the US had dropped more than 90,000 barrels and at least 190,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste in the North Atlantic and Pacific. Other countries including Belgium, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands also disposed of tons of radioactive waste in the North Atlantic in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
The water on the surface of our planet covers 71 percent of the surface with 29 percent making up the dry land. 95.5 percent of that water is salt water in our oceans and only 3.5 is freshwater. 69 percent of that 3.5 percent of freshwater is frozen ice locked up in glaciers and the polar ice caps. When the glaciers and ice caps melt that 69 percent of our freshwater would turn in to saltwater reduce our now 3.5 percent of freshwater to around 1.2 percent freshwater in lakes and rivers.
Aside from the water that exists in ice form, there is also the staggering amount of water that exists beneath the Earth’s surface. If you were to gather all the Earth’s fresh water together as a single mass (as shown in the image above) it is estimated that it would measure some 1,386 million cubic kilometers (km3) in volume.
Meanwhile, the amount of water that exists as groundwater, rivers, lakes, and streams would constitute just over 10.6 million km3, which works out to a little over 0.7%. Seen in this context, the limited and precious nature of freshwater becomes truly clear.
Volume vs. Mass:
But how much of Earth is water – i.e. how much water contributes to the actual mass of the planet? This includes not just the surface of the Earth, but inside as well. In terms of volume, all of the water on Earth works out to about 1.386 billion cubic kilometers (km³) or 332.5 million cubic miles (mi³) of space.
But in terms of mas, scientists calculate that the oceans on Earth weight about 1.35 x 1018 metric tonnes (1.488 x 1018 US tons), which is the equivalent of 1.35 billion trillion kg, or 2976 trillion trillion pounds. This is just 1/4400 the total mass of the Earth, which means that while the oceans cover 71% of the Earth’s surface, they only account for 0.02% of our planet’s total mass.
www.universetoday.com/65588/what-percent-of-earth-is-water/
There are 5 Zones of Floating Plastic Trash in the Ocean
Off the West Coast of North America, between California and Hawaii is an area of ocean that creates a kind of vortex – where ocean plastic, microplastics and debris collects. It’s been dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and it’s well known.
But did you know there are 5 of these zones globally? Alone the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas, all 5 zones together are much larger.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recently called for a national strategy by the end of this year (2022) to reduce plastic marine pollution. The report states that globally, every minute a garbage truck sized load of plastic is dumped in the ocean.
The US is the main offender as the leading plastic polluter in the world.
by 2050, marine plastic waste will have skyrocketed in growth. Just 28 years from now at the current rate of growth we can expect to quadruple the amount of plastic in the ocean.
The study is calling it an extinction-level event for thousands of species of marine life. Some of those species include sea turtles, dolphins, and seals.
According to the University of Autonoma de Barcelona, we have underestimated the amount of microplastics in the ocean. Because most samples were taken in coastal regions, and not in open sea – the data is not accurate. The actual concentration is much higher than we dreamed possible.
One Dutch study discovered microplastics in the human bloodstream.
www.dw.com/en/fukushima-how-the-ocean-became-a-dumping-ground-for-radioactive-waste
Atomic bomb tests
In 1946, the US became the first country to test an atomic bomb in a marine area, in the Pacific Bikini Atoll. Over the next few decades, more than 250 further nuclear weapons tests were carried out on the high seas. Most of them (193) were conducted by France in French Polynesia, and by the US (42), primarily in the Marshall Islands and the Central Pacific.
By 1991, the US had dropped more than 90,000 barrels and at least 190,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste in the North Atlantic and Pacific. Other countries including Belgium, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands also disposed of tons of radioactive waste in the North Atlantic in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.