Continents Drying at Unprecedented Rates, Driving Alarming Sea Level Rise

According to a recent study, the world's continents are experiencing unprecedented rates of drying, with the areas affected by this trend increasing by an area the size of California each year. This dramatic loss of terrestrial water storage, including surface water and groundwater, is now the primary driver of rising global sea levels, outpacing the contribution from melting ice sheets.

The research team, led by Earth system scientist Hrishikesh Chandanpurkar from FLAME University in India, analyzed over two decades of satellite data to track changes in the world's water resources. They found that while 'wet' areas have been getting wetter, 'dry' areas have been drying at an even faster rate, leading to an overall decline in continental freshwater supplies.

Alarmingly, the majority of the global population, around 75%, lives in the 101 countries where freshwater is being lost at increasing rates. This crisis is largely driven by human activities, such as greenhouse gas emissions that disrupt the water cycle, as well as unsustainable groundwater extraction for agriculture, particularly in regions like California's Central Valley and Central Asia's Aral Sea basin.

Urgent action is required to address this growing water crisis and prepare for a drier future, the researchers warn. Protecting and sustainably managing the world's groundwater resources will be crucial in the face of the climate emergency and its devastating impacts on the global water supply.