In a recent study published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) last August, scientists revealed that the world will witness a significant decline in terrestrial water storage in the next 70 years and an increase in the size of drylands worldwide by almost 10% in the future.
A group of scientists from the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the CAS conducted a research study using satellite observations and model outputs in order to investigate the effect of vegetation growth in drylands on terrestrial water storage.
“Spatially, approximately 1.83 million Km2 of land will be converted to drylands by the end of the twenty-first century, affecting more than 5.17 billion people.”, findings from the report
Scientists are expecting that the overall size of global drylands will expand by 7.2% (4.1-10.6% from low -to very high-emission scenario) from 2015 to 2100 compared to the period from 1982 to 2014.
From 1982 to 2016, the overall increase in vegetation growth across drylands globally resulted in a decrease in terrestrial water storage. This indicates a negative correlation between these two factors, especially in areas predominantly characterized by farmland, as mentioned in the recent report by CAS.
CAS explained that “reduction in terrestrial water storage is dominated by precipitation and evapotranspiration variability”.
The research revealed that by 2100 the terrestrial water storage would decrease by 41-84%.
On a final note, the CAS emphasized the urgent need for coordinated “planning for balanced ecological restoration, agricultural management, and water resource utilization that will affect 5.17 billion people, 64% of whom live in developing countries.”
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