2023-05-19 07:00:00
Nahuel Huapi Lake (Civitatis)
More than half of the planet’s great lakes are losing water due to global warming and human consumption, warned a study published Thursday in the journal Science.
The research marks the first time that a detailed analysis of the trends and reasons for changes in water accumulation in the world’s lakes has been carried out, according to lead author Fangfang Yao of the University of Virginia in the United States.
The researcher used information from a variety of satellites and models. He hopes that his findings will allow authorities and citizens to better protect critical bodies of water, and their ecosystems.
Specifically, Yao and his team created a technique that measures the variation in water levels of 2,000 of the world’s largest lakes and reservoirs, combining three decades of satellite observations with a model that quantifies the changes.
Bed markings indicate the level the water reached in Lake Mead, on the Nevada-Arizona border, on March 6, 2023, near Boulder City, Nevada. (AP Photo/John Locher/File)
In total, they collected 250,000 images of lakes and their surroundings, from the 1990s to the year 2020.
Most of the water globally comes from these 2,000 lakes and reservoirs, and unlike rivers, they are not very well monitored, according to the authors.
Specifically, Yao and his team discovered that 53% of the world’s largest lakes have lost water. The total amount would be equivalent to 17 Lakes Mead, the largest artificial reservoir in the entire United States.
A dog stands in the remains of the city of Miramar de Ansenuza, flooded in the 1970s, and now exposed by a prolonged drought affecting the Mar Chiquita lagoon, in Cordoba, Argentina February 20, 2023. REUTERS/Sebastian tuff/file
In fact, the losses occur in both arid and humid areas, showing that the trend is more widespread than previously thought, the authors said.
Furthermore, they saw that two-thirds of the world’s largest reservoirs suffered significant water losses.
Their findings also give rise to hope: one of the lakes studied, Sevan, in Armenia, saw its water levels rise thanks to efforts by authorities to limit human consumption.
The authors considered that this option should be studied for those water bodies where human consumption plays a large role.
(With information from EFE)
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