Specifically, scientists assessed nearly 2,000 large lakes using satellite measurements combined with climate and hydrological models, concluding that unsustainable human use, changes in rainfall, runoff, sedimentation, and rising temperatures have caused lake levels to decline globally. Between 1992 and 2020, 53% of lakes experienced a decline in water volume.

Drought conditions at Bolivia's second-largest lake, Poopó, have disrupted the lives of local communities. Photo: Reuters

Some of the world’s most important freshwater resources, from the Caspian Sea region between Europe and Asia to South America’s Lake Titicaca, have been losing water at a cumulative rate of about 22 billion tons per year over the past three decades, equivalent to about 17 times the volume of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. This has directly affected nearly 2 billion people, and many regions have faced water shortages in recent years.

Scientists have long warned that humanity must prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change, in which rising temperatures can increase the amount of water lost to the atmosphere. The earth is currently warming at a rate of about 1.1 degrees Celsius. "56% of the decline in natural lakes is due to global warming and human consumption. However, the warming of the planet contributes a larger part," Reuters quoted Fangfang Yao, a hydrologist at the University of Virginia (USA), who led the research team, as saying.

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