how much water does earth have
In simplest terms, water makes up about 71% of the Earthâs surface, while the other 29% consists of continents and islands. To break the numbers down, 96.5% of all the Earthâs water is contained within the oceans as salt water, while the remaining 3.5% is freshwater lakes and frozen water locked up in glaciers and the polar ice caps. Of that fresh water, almost all of it takes the form of ice: 69% of it, to be exact.