Global Water and Air Volume Compared to Earth - Picture-

This picture shows the total volume of air and water (formed into spheres) on Earth compared to the size of the Earth.

Global Water and Air Volume

Global water and air volume.

Conceptual computer artwork of the total volume of water on Earth (left) and of air in the Earth's atmosphere (right) shown as spheres (blue and pink). The spheres show how finite water and air supplies are. The water sphere measures 1390 kilometres across and has a volume of 1.4 billion cubic kilometres. This includes all the water in the oceans, seas, ice caps, lakes and rivers as well as ground water, and that in the atmosphere. The air sphere measures 1999 kilometres across and weighs 5140 trillion tonnes. As the atmosphere extends from Earth it becomes less dense. Half of the air lies within the first 5 kilometres of the atmosphere.

Kind of shocked me to see this comparison, I would have thought that there was more air and water than what this shows.

Makes you realize why we must conserve and protect our resources and the environment.

[edit on 13/3/08 by Keyhole]

....this is an interesting depiction of Earth's air & water.

From space, the Earth is a water planet. Oceans cover more than 70% of its surface and are around 13,000ft deep. Yet, as this image shows, if every drop of water in the world was collected in a sphere, it would be just 869 miles across - barely big enough to cover Eastern Europe.

" Pictures that cast new light on our planet "

[edit on 15-3-2008 by anhinga]

WOW. I just saw this for the first time today. A powerful image especially given the discussion of mans impact on the environment. How, it is asked can humans possibly affect the whole of the planet? I just think this is a super powerful image and I hope other people discover this and pass it around.

Very good find S+F for me I have a new desktop image to!

I had read about this years ago and conceptualised it in my minds eh, the volume, but to see it in visual terms is very striking.

OF course Global Warming has nothing to do with humans????????

Um yes it has, makes it plain to me!

WAKE UP

lol

Of course its ok to allow pesticides and fertillisers to run off our fields of GM products into the streams with oil from engines, factory effluents, and bleach, and tampons, and anti depressants and Pills from our toilets,

Dont worry it gets flushed into that big sea?????

I hope this image makes some realise how precious each breath we have is, how little air and water 6 billion humans have to share, with ourselves and all of nature, keep clean and not laugh about when real science is debunked by Tabacco Lobbyists and special interest groups.

Do you see the clouds in your cup of tea or can of chemical cola?

Evolve, wake up, see the interdependence of it all.

Elf.

[edit on 27-1-2009 by MischeviousElf]

I think this is somewhat misleading. The sizes of the spheres depends on the relative pressures. It is obviously not constant for either water or air.

I've seen this image before about a year ago'ish and even then i was baffled at how little water there really is according to this, here here with the comment regarding pressure.

Looking at the water sphere that really wouldnt cover much unless the oceans are really just giant ponds that arn't as deep as weve been led to belive (very possible given the crap we get told these days by the so called pro's).

Think about a nominaly sized water balloon on your rather large patio, lets place that on the patio so it forms a loverly sphere then pop the #itch and see how far it spreads from 'ground zero', creating mini water pools and seeping away in cracks and caverns (obviously small scale) etc, not to mention that part of the sphere is made up from the water vapour in the atmosphere so lets evaporate some of that aswell, im sorry but this just doesnt cut the mustard for me as it just doesnt fit the gaping valleys that once were oceans according to the pictures, and furthermore has nothing to do with manmade global warming, infact i think some tw#t has made this as part of a scaremongering taktik.

End;

Perhaps Al Gores behind it, anyone recall seeing this in The *cough* my *cough* inconvenient *cough* lies *cough* truth? Given hes a slide show bunny n all...

[edit on 10/2/2009 by phushion]

I guess we will never know until someone proves one way or another. Don't have proof that it's true, don't have proof that it isn't. maybe I will get back to this later after work.

It might seem strange, but it's probably right.

Think about it, the deepest part of the Pacific in the Mariana Trench is only 7-8 miles deep. The sphere shown there had a diameter 863 miles wide, but also 863 mi "deep" or "tall". If you were to pretend it was a cube (obviously alot more volume, but lets use it for simplicity's sake) and say, took 2 mi deep slices off (the average depth of the pacific ocean), that would give you 430 slices that are 863mi x 863mi or approximately 320,250,670 square miles of 2 mi deep water.

Another way to visualize it is that the diameter of the earth is roughly 7926 miles across. The deepest part of the Mariana Trench is at most 1/100th of that diameter. Really more like water spilled on a table rather than a bucket if you think about it.

That all being said water is finite, but in terms we can understand, finite in the sense that we are able to walk completely around the globe on foot and be able to comprehend it.

[edit on 2/10/2009 by Fiverz]

[edit on 2/10/2009 by Fiverz]