NASA satellite images show that the world's biggest supplies of underground water, an important source of H20, are depleting at lightning-fast rates. The data indicates that a third of the biggest aquifers, critical for the world water supply, are at critically low levels and drying up.
The satellite data in a 10-year study shows that 21 of Earth's 37 biggest aquifers, important freshwater resources, are losing more water than is being replaced. The problem is global. Freshwater is drying up in countries such as the United States, France, China, and Libya.
In the scientific study researchers discovered that 13 aquifers were at a very high risk. The situation seems to be a long-term problem that will likely worsen as Earth's freshwater demand relies more on the aquifers.
This information was not news to scientists. However, it was the first hard data that the Earth's underground water supply is indeed disappearing at an alarming rate, according to The Independent.
Various human-caused situations have depleted the world's water supply. They include booming populations, agricultural expansion, and industrial production.
James Famiglietti is a NASA water scientist who was the lead researcher in the study led by the University of California Irvine (UCI). He called the situation "critical."
Underground aquifers supply slightly over two-thirds of humans' worldwide freshwater. This natural resource becomes increasingly vital in drought-hit areas such as California, which could get almost 100 percent of its fresh water from them by this year's end.
The underground water source in biggest trouble is the Arabian Aquifer, which over 60 million people rely on. It was followed by the Indus Basin located in India and Pakistan.
The study's NASA and UCI researchers support a global campaign to calculate how much stored water is contained in the underground aquifers, according to Mashable. This would often require drilling.