Where is most of Earth’s fresh water stored?

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Diagram illustrating Earth's environmental spheres, with labeled sections showing the geosphere (land and crust), biosphere (living things), atmosphere (air), and hydrosphere (water), each extending vertically from the Earth's surface. — hydrosphere Earth's environment includes the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the lithosphere, and the biosphere.

Most of Earth’s fresh water is stored in the form of ice, specifically within glaciers, ice caps, and permanent snow at polar latitudes. Approximately three-quarters of all the world's fresh water is locked away in these frozen reservoirs.12

The majority of the remaining fresh water is found as groundwater held within soils and rocks. Only a very small fraction—less than 1 percent—of Earth's total fresh water occurs in lakes and rivers.2