Sponsored by: By choosing to build from a pre-drawn plan â as opposed to hiring a residential architect to create a custom home â you've already taken a big step toward building a great home at the right price. But not all pre-drawn plans cost the same to build. You can still keep costs down and have a beautiful home by keeping several principles in mind. First, and most obviously, a larger home costs more to build and more to heat, cool, and maintain. That's why you'll find many smaller homes in this collection.
Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface; the oceans contain 96.5% of the Earth's water. The Antarctic ice sheet, which contains 61% of all fresh water on Earth, is visible at the bottom. Condensed atmospheric water can be seen as clouds, contributing to the Earth's albedo.
How much water is there? Water covers nearly three-fourths of the Earth's surface and is mostly found in the oceans and seas. That sounds like a lot of water, right? Well, it is, but we can't drink much of it. Since more than 97% of the water on earth is in the form of salt water, only a tiny amount of water is usable as fresh, drinking water. Human beings cannot drink salt water. We need fresh water to survive. So, just exactly how much fresh water is there? Two percent (2%) of the water on Earth is in the form of frozen fresh water, but it is not usable by human beings. Only about 1% of the total water on Earth is in the form of fresh water that is found in lakes, streams, rivers, soil and underground reservoirs or aquifers.