Climate change is only part of the story, but humans have left a detectable footprint on the distribution of the global water supply.
Eric Holthaus shares news of a new study that analyzes data from groundwater-detecting satellites. The results of the study, published in the journal Nature, are "equal parts terrifying and long-expected," according to Holthaus.
The authors used the satellite data to construct a map of 34 rapidly changing regions around the world, painting a unified picture of current hot spots of water scarcity and excess. Nearly every activity that involves people requires water — rice farming, nuclear power, aluminum smelting, you name it — so the lives of people living where reserves are being rapidly depleted are under grave threat.
According to Holthaus, the study makes the future threat of water scarcity abundantly clear.
FULL STORY: We can now see how humans have altered Earth’s water resources
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