The state of groundwater in the world and the Amazon great drought

According to scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, the most important aquifers in the world are drying up. In 30% of cases, the declines are occurring faster than ever. 36% of aquifers are losing water at more than 0.1 m per year, and 12% are losing water at more than 0.5 m yearly. There is also good news – in 36% of aquifers monitored long-term, declines are either slowing down rather than accelerating, or the decline has reversed. Human decisions usually cause it. For example, in Bangkok at the beginning of the XXI century, new fees were introduced for pumping private wells, which stopped the loss of groundwater.

According to experts from, among others, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Center in the Netherlands, the devastating drought in the Amazon in 2023 resulted from the climate crisis. Global warming has been shown to have reduced rainfall and increased temperatures in the Amazon, making drought from June to November 2023 approximately 30 times more likely. The massive destruction of rainforests for beef and soy production has deepened the drought because the land holds less water due to clearing vegetation.

China has probably completed the construction of a dam on the Mapcha Tsangpo River in the country’s southwestern regions and can thus control access to water for residents of the border areas of India and Nepal. According to the Chinese government news agency Xinhua, China is building another dam in the region to increase control over the Tibetan river system upstream of the Mapcha Tsangpo.