Study emphasises on water crisis as half of the world's lakes and reservoirs shrink

Climate change is one of the major concerns of the world and water crisis caused due to it is crying out for our attention. A recent report throws light on the same.

According to it, more than half of the world’s large lakes and reservoirs have dried up since the early 1990s, causing serious concerns about loss of water in the world for agriculture, hydropower and other human uses.

The study was published in the journal Science which stated that lakes, like the Aral Sea in Central Asia and the Dead Sea in the Middle East, are shrinking gradually due to rising temperatures, increasing the danger of water loss to the environment.

The report which was based on satellite image data collected between 1992 and 2020, also stated that Natural lakes and dams which store about 87 percent of the Earth’s freshwater, are just 3 percent of the planet’s surface.

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Researchers looked at around 2,000 large lakes using satellite models and discovered that unsustainable human use, changes in weather conditions, deforestation, sedimentation, and lesser rainfall have caused lake levels to go down globally, with 53 percent of lakes showing a significant decline from 1992 to 2020.

Spain recently reported some reservoirs to have gone 26 percent full after months of drought, as compared to 58 percent full in 2022.

Experts have already warned of the catastrophe that might come upon us due to climate change and the rising temperature year by year. According to them, the earth is currently heating up at a rate of approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.9F) and action must be taken before it reaches beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F).

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