Alec Luhn in New Scientist:
Earth has entered an “era of water bankruptcy” due to over-consumption and global warming, with 3 in 4 people living in countries that face water shortages, water contamination or drought.
That’s the conclusion of a United Nations report that has found most regions are overdrawing their annual income of rainwater and snowmelt and dipping into their savings of groundwater, which can take thousands of years to replenish. Seventy per cent of major aquifers are declining. Many of these changes are irreversible.
Two key drivers are agriculture and cities expanding into arid areas, which are getting even drier due to climate change. Almost 700 sinkholes have appeared in Turkey due to groundwater pumping, while dust storms from desertification have killed hundreds in Beijing.
More here.
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