Earth’s total fresh water has plummeted to an alarming new low, and it could be a sign that climate change is pushing the world into a dangerous phase of global drying, according to a new study.
Since 2015, our planet’s lakes, rivers and aquifers have lost 290 cubic miles (1,200 cubic km) of fresh water, the equivalent of emptying Lake Erie two and a half times.
This drop coincided with a 2014 to 2016 period of El Niño warming. Scientists typically expect freshwater levels to rebound after the climate oscillation ends, but satellite measurements, made up to 2023, reveal that the freshwater levels have yet to recover — and may never come back.
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