Revealed: Europe's water reserves drying up due to climate breakdown

"Vast swathes of Europe's water reserves are drying up, a new analysis using two decades of satellite data reveals, with freshwater storage shrinking across southern and central Europe, from Spain and Italy to Poland and parts of the UK. Scientists at University College London (UCL), working with Watershed Investigations and the Guardian, analysed 200224 data from satellites, which track changes in Earth's gravitational field. Because water is heavy, shifts in groundwater, rivers, lakes, soil moisture and glaciers show up in the signal, allowing the satellites to effectively weigh how much water is stored."

"Climate breakdown can be seen in the data, the scientists say. When we compare the total terrestrial water storage data with climate datasets, the trends broadly correlate, said Mohammad Shamsudduha, professor of water crisis and risk reduction at UCL. It should be a wake-up call for politicians still sceptical about cutting emissions, said Shamsudduha. We're no longer talking about limiting warming to 1.5C, we're likely heading toward 2C above preindustrial levels, and we're now witnessing the consequences."

"Doctoral researcher Arifin isolated groundwater storage from the total terrestrial water data and found that trends in these more resilient water bodies mirrored the overall picture, confirming that much of Europe's hidden freshwater reserves are being depleted. Trends in the UK are mixed. Overall, the west is getting wetter while the east is becoming drier and that signal is getting stronger, said Shamsudduha. Although total rainfall may be stable, or even slightly increasing, the pattern is changing."

Two decades of satellite gravimetric data show freshwater storage shrinking across southern and central Europe, including Spain, Italy, Poland and parts of the UK. Northern and north‑west regions, notably Scandinavia, parts of the UK and Portugal, have tended to get wetter while broad areas of the south and south‑east have dried. Groundwater trends isolated from total terrestrial water mirror the overall depletion, indicating losses in hidden freshwater reserves. Terrestrial water storage trends broadly correlate with climate datasets, consistent with warming toward about 2°C above preindustrial levels. Rainfall totals may be stable or slightly increasing, but spatial patterns are shifting, with a wetter west and drier east in the UK.

Read at www.theguardian.com