Statistics are not encouraging

The decrease in the amount of groundwater has been monitored since at least May 2014. This is influenced by a number of factors, including severe droughts, increased agricultural demand and climate events such as El Niño. The scientists’ conclusions raise concerns about the impact of global warming on drinking water supplies and the availability of this water for people and agriculture around the world, Channel 24 reported, citing SciTechDaily.

Using data from German NASA satellites, an international group of scientists found evidence of a decline in water volumes in the past and were able to prove that this continues today. Between 2015 and 2023, satellite observations showed that the average amount of freshwater stored on land, including surface water in lakes and rivers and groundwater in groundwater, was 1,200 cubic kilometers lower than the average level recorded between 2002 and 2014. That’s the equivalent of losing two and a half parts of Lake Erie, says Matthew Rodell, a hydrologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and one of the study’s authors.

During droughts, with the modern expansion of irrigated agriculture, farms and cities are forced to rely more on groundwater, which can lead to a decrease in groundwater supplies: surface freshwater supplies are depleted, rain and snow do not replenish them, so groundwater is pumped to more available water The decline in its quantity potentially creates distress for farmers and communities. can lead to hunger, conflict, poverty and increased risk of diseaseWhen people turn to polluted water sources.

Scientists discover global freshwater reserves are dwindling It started with a large-scale drought in northern and central BrazilThis was soon followed by a series of major droughts in Australasia, South America, North America, Europe and Africa.

Warming waters in the tropical Pacific from late 2014 to 2016, the culmination of one of the most significant El Niño events since 1950, led to changes in atmospheric jet streams that altered weather patterns and precipitation worldwide. But even after El Niño ends, global Freshwater resources have not recovered. Rodell and his team report that 13 of the world’s 30 most intense droughts recorded by satellites have occurred since January 2015. They suspect that global warming may contribute to the long-term depletion of freshwater.

Global warming brings about the following fact: the atmosphere holds more water vapor rather than falling as rain. This accumulation eventually leads to more extreme rainfall events where large amounts of water fall all at once rather than falling gradually, says NASA Goddard meteorologist Michael Bosilovich. Although the total annual amount of rain and snow does not vary much, long periods between rainfalls cause the soil to dry out and become more compacted. This reduces the amount of water the soil can absorb when it rains.

The problem with heavy rainfall is that the water eventually runs off.
– says Bosylovych.

Instead of being absorbed and replenishing groundwater supplies, it continues to flow, flowing into rivers or re-evaporating.

Scientists see that rising temperatures increase the evaporation of water from the surface into the atmosphere and that the water-holding capacity of the atmosphere increases, increasing the frequency and intensity of drought conditions.

now It is unknown whether global freshwater supply will return to pre-2015 values.. “We don’t think this is a coincidence, and we think it could be a harbinger of things to come,” Rodell said, noting that the nine warmest years in modern temperature records coincided with a sharp decline in freshwater resources.