Worrying: Study reveals that half of the world’s largest lakes are drying up

Many people believe that climate change cannot harm the environment. However, a study could change their minds from now on.

This is because climate threats and human actions are putting the world’s largest lakes, which store 87% of the Earth’s fresh water, at risk. Their volume has been decreasing drastically, representing a global danger that deserves attention.

These lakes play a crucial role in providing water for the preservation of ecosystems, biodiversity and human well-being. They also play a major role in regulating the climate and providing resources for our survival. For this reason, these areas need to be better monitored.

Study finds lakes around the world are drying up

A recent study, published in the journal Science on May 18, used satellite observation data to gain a better understanding of the situation. This new tracking method pioneered the assessment of lake water storage based on this information.

The study was led by Fangfang Yao, who is a researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES).

The research was carried out to talk about the environmental crises that are drastically affecting some of the largest bodies of water in the world, such as the drying up of the Aral Sea, located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Based on the concerns raised, Yao collaborated with colleagues at research centers in the US, France and Saudi Arabia to develop a technique that would enable analysis of changes in water levels in nearly 2,000 of the world’s major lakes and reservoirs.

All of this is to better understand what is happening to cause these lakes to lose so much water. So, using three decades of satellite observations, climate data and hydrological models, the study’s experts identified statistically significant storage declines in the world’s largest lakes.

According to the results, the analyzed water bodies experienced a 53% decline in volume, with climate change and human water consumption being the main factors behind this phenomenon.

The study revealed water loss in approximately 100 large lakes, and many of the actions related to these declines were previously unknown.

Sedimentation has emerged as one of the key factors responsible for the decline in water storage. In long-established reservoirs, sedimentation has been shown to be more significant than droughts and periods of heavy rainfall.

Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on such issues to prevent this water loss.