GPHY 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: World Resources Institute
Document Summary
170 - global freshwater resources and a canadian perspective. Freshwater: necessity of life, scarce resources, only 2. 5% of all water, 35 000 000 km3, only 0. 65% as liquid freshwater, 10 885 000 km3, only 0. 01% is in lakes and rivers, 167 460 km3. 2/3rds are caught in ice caps or glaciers. Antarctica is the largest source of ice water. Asia has the largest amount of ground water sources and large lakes, reservoirs and rivers. Some of this water resources are completely inaccessible to us. Canada"s share of freshwater: 20% of worlds freshwater, ~ 7 000 000 km3, but most are not renewable. Glaciers, ice caps, groundwater, large lakes: 7% of world"s total renewable flow, 3 350 km3, 0. 5% of global population. Only small portions of each lake is actually renewable. So why worry about water management: we are water hogs, 2nd highest per capita consumers.
