This web page contains hydrosphere facts for kids and is an excellent resource for anyone of any age looking to learn about the Earth’s hydrosphere. Our goal is to provide you with accurate, up to date facts about the planet’s hydrosphere.
In addition to facts about the hydrosphere, we provide additional resources to help you with your research on this important resource.
The hydrosphere facts below will help you learn about the hydrosphere, what makes up the hydrosphere, how the hydrosphere was created, why the hydrosphere is important and other hydrosphere related facts.
We hope these hydrosphere facts are interesting and help you learn more about this important aspect of the planet Earth.
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22 Hydrosphere Facts for Kids
1. The hydrosphere is a term used to describe the total mass of water found on Earth.
2. The hydrosphere includes both liquid and frozen water.
3. The hydrosphere includes both freshwater and saltwater.
4. The hydrosphere includes water in oceans, lakes, streams, ponds, groundwater, glaciers and other ice forms.
5. The Earth’s hydrosphere contains around 366.3 sextillion gallons of water, that’s 21 zeros!
6. The Earth’s hydrosphere is estimated to be around 4 billion years old.
7. 97.5% of the Earth’s hydrosphere is saltwater and 2.5% is freshwater.
8. Only 0.3% of the freshwater in the Earth’s hydrosphere is easily accessible by humans. The rest is in the form ice (glaciers, snow and permafrost) and groundwater.
9. Water in the Earth’s hydrosphere can be found in three states, and they are liquid, gas and solid.
10. Liquid water is the water you see in rivers, lakes and the ocean.
11. Water is in a liquid state when above 32 °F and below 212 °F.
12. Gas (vapor) water is the clouds you see in the sky and the steam from a hot bath.
13. Water is in a gas state when its temperature goes above 212 °F.
14. Solid water is the ice you put into your drink and the glaciers near the northern and southern polar regions.
15. Water is in a solid state when its temperature is below 32 °F.
16. The Earth’s hydrosphere makes up 0.023% of the Earth’s total mass.
17. The Earth’s hydrosphere covers around 71% of the Earth’s total surface area.
18. The Earth’s hydrosphere is constantly changing due to the water cycle.
19. The water cycle is the process of transferring water from state to another or from one reservoir to another.
20. Human activities are having an affect on the Earth’s hydrosphere and water cycle.
21. Humans divert and dam rivers, which are key to the water cycle.
22. Humans are removing water from groundwater sources faster than the water cycle can replace it.
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Additional Resources on the Hydrosphere
- Hydrosphere – Learn more about the Earth’s hydrosphere on the National Geographic website.
- About The Hydrosphere – Discover the Earth’s hydrosphere on the My NASA Data website.
- What is the Hydrosphere – Find out exactly what the hydrosphere is on the Rice Space Institute website.
- Hydrosphere – Wikipedia – Explore the hydrosphere in-depth on the Wikipedia website.