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Way Off facts · 🌦️ Weather

How many tonnes of water is the Earth's atmosphere holding right now, as vapour, clouds and rain?

12.9 trillion
tonnes
12,900,000,000,000 exactly, give or take
The sky is carrying an estimated 12.9 trillion tonnes of water at any moment — if it all fell at once, it would coat the entire planet in 2.5 cm of rain.SOURCEUS Geological Survey
Scale check: 12.9 trillion is roughly seconds in 320,000 years.
Would you have guessed? You'll be way off.

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