La Niña is only part of the problem. The long-term driver of increasing drought – even in areas getting more rainfall overall – is the rapidly warming climate.
NASA’s Landsat satellites have been monitoring changes on Earth’s landscape for 50 years.
NASA illustration
When Indigenous peoples lose their river flow to dams, satellite programs like Landsat – which is celebrating its 50th anniversary – can help them fight for their resources.
500 million people live in 19 African countries deemed “water insecure”.
A burned ‘Caution: Children at play’ sign remained after a wildfire devastated the town of Berry Creek, Calif., in 2020.
Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The author’s 9-year-old son will likely face about four times as many extreme events in his lifetime as older adults today. An international report explains the impacts already being felt.
The old village of Aceredo, submerged 30 years ago when a hydropower dam flooded the valley, emerged during a drought in northwestern Spain, in February 2022.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Water is central to adapting to climate change, but very few of the strategies put in place to respond to water hazards or ensure its availability have been evaluated.
An artist’s rendering of a solar canal.
Robin Raj, Citizen Group & Solar Aquagrid
Covering the state’s canals with solar panels would reduce evaporation of precious water and help meet renewable energy goals – all while saving money.
Academic research can have a direct impact on people's lives. It's crucial to come together to deal with problems like climate change. If we don't, the poor and vulnerable will suffer the most.
Mountain glaciers are under threat from global warming.
Phunjo Lama/AFP via Getty Images
Long before climate change was evident, California began planning a system of canals and reservoirs to carry water from the mountains to drier farms and cities. It’s no longer enough.
Some of North America’s groundwater is so old, it fell as rain before humans arrived here thousands of years ago.
Maria Fuchs via Getty Images
As surface water diminishes in the Western US, people are drilling deeper wells – and tapping into older groundwater that can take thousands of years to replenish naturally.
In some drought-stricken parts of the Southwest, water arrives by truck.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Cities and farmers in the Southwest are resorting to unsustainable strategies to pull in more water. Iran has tried many of these strategies and shows how they can go wrong.
Groundwater was once thought to buffer streams from warming, but an inexpensive new technique shows streams fed by shallow groundwater may be just as susceptible as those without.
Cape Town residents queued up for water as the taps nearly ran dry in 2018.
Morgana Wingard/Getty Images
Arnagretta Hunter, Australian National University e John Hewson, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Other existential risks include the decline of natural resources (particularly water), human population growth beyond the Earth’s carrying capacity, and nuclear weapons.
Five capital city water storages fell over summer, and some appear to be facing dramatic long-term declines. Late drenching rains fell on southeastern Australia, but some unlucky centres missed out.
If we’re not careful, water may not be clean enough or available when we need it.
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