A recent study highlights a concerning decrease in Earth's freshwater storage, impacting sea levels and ecosystems. Led by Ki-Weon Seo from Seoul National University, researchers discovered a significant decline in terrestrial water storage since the early 21st century, encompassing water in aquifers, lakes, rivers, and soil.
Published in Science, the study attributes this decline to rising land and ocean temperatures, exacerbating global drought incidence. Analyzing satellite gravity observations, soil moisture assessments, sea level rise measurements, and Earth's rotation variations from 2000 to 2020, the team found a decrease of nearly 1.3 trillion metric tons of terrestrial water storage between 2005 and 2015. This equates to a 3.5-millimeter rise in global sea level.
Notably, soil moisture loss sharply dropped from 2000 to 2002, significantly contributing to sea level rise compared to Greenland's melting ice sheets. Rising temperatures drive water loss through altered precipitation patterns and increased evaporation and transpiration. Environmental scientist Katharine Jacobs emphasizes the growing disparity between drying and wetting areas due to these changes. The study underscores the urgent need to understand the connections between groundwater pumping, sea level rise, and their impact on Earth's axis, as declining soil water trends are unlikely to reverse with future temperature projections, posing far-reaching consequences for ecosystems.