Global Drying Trends Threaten Freshwater Availability
New research indicates that the world’s continents are drying at an accelerated pace, jeopardizing long-term freshwater supply and exacerbating rising sea levels. Millions globally already confront deadly droughts, reports 24brussels.
Recent data collected by NASA’s GRACE and GRACE-FO missions, spanning from 2002 to 2024, reveals alarming trends in terrestrial water storage, including a significant and accelerating decline in global water reserves. The study, published in July in Science Advances, highlights that areas experiencing drying are expanding by approximately twice the size of California each year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, researchers are identifying what they term “mega-drying regions,” vast areas of drought that affect multiple countries simultaneously. While some locales are experiencing increased precipitation, the overall trend clearly favors substantial drying.
Large-scale groundwater depletion—driven primarily by agricultural water demand—accounts for roughly 68% of the decline in terrestrial water storage. Other contributing factors include water loss in high-latitude regions, particularly Canada and Russia, where melting ice and permafrost are becoming increasingly prevalent, alongside acute drought situations in Central America and Europe.
The ramifications of this shift are profound and span global consequences. Initial measurements from 2020 indicated that approximately 6 billion people, or 75% of the world’s population, resided in areas with diminishing freshwater supplies. This decrease in terrestrial water correlates with rising sea levels, a shift that the study warns now represents a more significant factor in sea level rise than the melting ice sheets.
The new findings follow a report from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which documented some of the most severe drought events on record since 2023. The report states that tens of millions, particularly in southern and eastern Africa, are facing food insecurity, malnutrition, and forced migration, a crisis exacerbated by water mismanagement, climate change, and El Niño effects. In Somalia, for instance, about 43,000 excess deaths may have been attributed to drought in 2022.
Globally identified drought hotspots include areas stretching from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia and South America. In Spain, around 60% of agricultural land faced drought conditions as of April 2023, while 88% of Turkey is at risk of desertification.
“Drought is no longer a distant threat. It is here, escalating, and demands urgent global cooperation,” stated UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw. “When energy, food, and water all go at once, societies start to unravel. That’s the new normal we need to be ready for.”
The UNCCD report underscores the need for immediate action through systemic and cross-sectoral solutions along with international collaboration, focusing on enhancing ecosystems and improving water management to ensure equitable resource access.
Repairing and maintaining aging water infrastructure could address significant water wastage, with some regions losing up to 80% of available water to leaks. However, the report cautions that mere fixes are inadequate. Comprehensive measures to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices are also vital, as agriculture remains the largest consumer of global freshwater.
