The continents quickly dry out, and large freshwater resources are threatened, according to a recently released study based on more than 20 years of NASA satellite data. Here are the key conclusions of the report and what they predict for humanity:
It shows that most of the land suffers from a “continental drying” pandemic, affecting countries containing 75% of the world’s population, shows new studies.
A study published in the journal Science Advances studied changes in the total supply of fresh water and showed that nearly 6 billion people live in 101 countries, which face a pure decrease in water supply, creating a “critical that threatens humanity.”
Mining of underground freshwater aquifers leads to much of the loss.
According to the study, soon the dirt watering to farmers, cities and corporations around the world is now 68% of the total loss of fresh water on the latitudes where most people live.
Most of the water taken from the aquifers ends in the oceans, which promotes the rise of the sea.
The extracted underground water rarely leaks back into the aquifer from which it was pumped. Most likely, most of the flow goes into the streams, then the rivers and eventually the oceans. According to the researchers, the moisture lost evaporation and drought, as well as the drainage of pumping groundwater, now exceeds the melting of glaciers and ice leaves either Antarctica, or Greenland, as the largest contribution to the ocean.
As the drought becomes more extreme, farmers are increasingly turning to groundwater.
Worldwide, 70% of fresh water is used for cultivation, and more drought is becoming more extreme. Only a small amount of this water is traced back into the aquifers. Studies have long established that people take more water from the subway when the heat and drought caused by the climate, in the worst case.
The planet’s drying areas merge.
The parts of the world that dry out the most acute become interconnected, forming what the study authors describe as “mega” regions. One of these regions covers almost all of Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia.
In recent years, the drying of the earth has accelerated.
The study discusses 22 years of observation data using the NASA gravity and climates, or grass, satellites that measure weight changes and are used to assess water content. Since 2002, sensors have discovered a quick shift of water loss across the planet. Approximately in 2014, the study found that the drying pace complained. Now it grows in the area twice as much as California every year.
Water, which is pumped from aquifers, is not easily replaced if it can be at all.
The main underground pools are at the heart of approximately a third of the planet, including about half of Africa, Europe and South America. Many of these aquifers have taken millions of years to form and take thousands of years to replenish. Researchers warn that it is almost impossible to cancel the loss of water “on human terms”.
As the continents are dry and coastal areas, the risk of increased conflicts and instability increases.
Researchers warn accelerated drying in combination with the floods of coastal cities and food lowland, warn “potentially stunning” and cascading risks for global order, the researchers warn. All their conclusions indicate the likelihood of broad hunger, migration of a large number of people seeking a more stable environment and the impact of geopolitical disorders.
Data source: Hrishikesh. A. Chandonpurkar, James S. Famigliet, Kashik Gopalan, David N. Visa, Joshikhid Water, Kaor Kakinum, John T. Reager, Fan Zhang (2025). An unprecedented continental drying, the presence of fresh water is reduced and the Earth’s deposit to increase the sea level. Science is moving. https://www.science.org/doi/10.126/sciadv.adx0298
Graphics by Lucas Waldron
