Mapping the Effects of Human Intervention on the Global Water Supply

Eric Holthaus shares news of a new study that analyzes data from groundwater-detecting satellites. The results of the study, published in the journal Nature, are "equal parts terrifying and long-expected," according to Holthaus.

The authors used the satellite data to construct a map of 34 rapidly changing regions around the world, painting a unified picture of current hot spots of water scarcity and excess. Nearly every activity that involves people requires water — rice farming, nuclear power, aluminum smelting, you name it — so the lives of people living where reserves are being rapidly depleted are under grave threat.

According to Holthaus, the study makes the future threat of water scarcity abundantly clear.