Global Groundwater Analysis Shows Demand Outstrips Supply
Almost one-quarter of the world’s population lives in regions where groundwater is being used up faster than it can be replenished, concludes a comprehensive global analysis of groundwater depletion, published this week in Nature.
Across the world, human civilizations depend largely on tapping vast reservoirs of water that have been stored for up to thousands of years in sand, clay and rock deep underground. These massive aquifers—which in some cases stretch across multiple states and country borders—provide water for drinking and crop irrigation, as well as to support ecosystems such as forests and fisheries.
