Botswana's Okavango Delta, where the Okavango Rivers empties into the arid Kalahari Desert, is the world's largest freshwater marsh ecosystem. It stretches about 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 square miles).
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Photograph by Lorenzo Manni, MyShot
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Rivers and Streams
Only about three percent of Earth’s water is freshwater. Of that, only about 1.2 percent can be used as drinking water; the rest is locked up in glaciers, ice caps, and permafrost, or buried deep in the ground. Most of our drinking water comes from rivers and streams. From each river’s source, the water meanders through the landscape meeting up with other streams and shaping civilization as we know it. This water is the lifeline of ecosystems around the world. Teach your students about the Earth’s rivers and streams with the resources in this collection.
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Rivers and Streams
Only about three percent of Earth’s water is freshwater. Of that, only about 1.2 percent can be used as drinking water; the rest is locked up in glaciers, ice caps, and permafrost, or buried deep in the ground. Most of our drinking water comes from rivers and streams. From each river’s source, the water meanders through the landscape meeting up with other streams and shaping civilization as we know it. This water is the lifeline of ecosystems around the world. Teach your students about the Earth’s rivers and streams with the resources in this collection.