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Interesting Things You Never Knew About the World Fascinating World Facts You Need to Know 1. Glaciers and ice sheets hold about 69 percent of the world's freshwater. Just over 96 percent of the total amount of the world's water is held in its oceans, according to Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources via the United States Geological Survey (USGS). However, that's primarily saltwater.To find the bulk of the world's freshwater, you need to trek to the poles, as 68.7 percent of it is encased in ice caps, permanent snow, and glaciers. 2. The fastest gust of wind ever recorded on Earth was 253 miles per hour. Hang on to your hats because this isn't your average wind storm. In 1996, a tropical cyclone named Olivia hit off the coast of Barrow Island, Australia with such force that it broke an incredible record.According to The Weather Channel, "Olivia's eyewall produced five extreme three-second wind gusts, the peak of which was a 253 mph gust," which blew past the previous wind record of 231 mph set in Mount Washington, New Hampshire back in 1934. 3. Recent droughts in Europe were the worst in 2,100 years. Europe has been experiencing serious dry spells and extreme heat since 2015, which has caused major droughts. Research done led by the University of Cambridge (and published on the National Centers for Environmental Information website) looked at isotopes in the rings of old European Oak trees in Central Europe which formed over thousands of years to try to pin down the cause. [Learn More Fascinating Facts]( You can [Unsubscribe]( at any time from our email list [open track]