"As the climate warms, new data shows huge swaths of land across the globe are quickly drying, threatening humanity’s supply of fresh water.

In the far north, the detected loss is due largely to glaciers melting and subarctic lakes drying.

But farther south — where most people live — it is largely the race to suck groundwater from aquifers that is removing the water from the continents.

So much groundwater is now being pumped that it is filling the oceans as it drains off land, becoming one of the largest drivers of global sea level rise."

Abrahm Lustgarten reports for ProPublica July 25, 2025, with graphics by Lucas Waldron and illustrations by Olivier Kugler. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Dry Taps, Empty Lakes, Shuttered Cities: A Water Crisis Batters Iran" (New York Times) [3]

"Longtime Lawmaker Shapes The Debate As Arizona Grapples With Dwindling Water Supplies" (AP) [4]