With reference to the water on the planet Earth, consider the following statements :
- 1.The amount of water in the rivers and lakes is more than the amount of groundwater.
- 2.The amount of water in polar ice caps and glaciers is more than the amount of groundwater.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Answer: B. Statement 1 is wrong: rivers and lakes hold far less water than groundwater; groundwater is about 30 percent of freshwater. Statement 2 is correct: ice caps and glaciers hold about 68-69 percent of freshwater, more than groundwater. So only 2.
Watch for: Surface water is the most visible, so students overestimate how much there is.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Wrong because groundwater is much more than river and lake water.
- C. Wrong because statement 1 is false.
- D. Wrong because statement 2 is correct.
Source to check: NCERT Class 11, Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 13 Water (Oceans); USGS Water Science School, Where is Earth's Water
Answer from the official UPSC key. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.