A new study reveals over the last 20 years, 75% of the world's population lives in an area where drinking water is decreasing. Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica editor-at-large for climate, joins to discuss.

Lake Tahoe

A recent study has revealed that three-quarters of the global population now live in regions experiencing a decline in drinking water availability. The primary causes are shifting precipitation patterns due to climate change and the over-extraction of groundwater from aquifers. These trends are particularly pronounced in the southwestern United States, the high plains, and parts of Central America, but are evident worldwide.

Experts warn that diminishing fresh water supplies can lead to food scarcity, economic stress, and even conflict between nations. While some U.S. states like California and Arizona have implemented groundwater regulations, these efforts have not been sufficient to reverse the trend. Researchers highlight the lack of comprehensive national or international policies to manage water resources sustainably.

Why fresh water around the world is vanishing

The global supply of fresh water is drying up. A new study reveals over the last 20 years, 75% of the world's population lives in an area where drinking water is decreasing. You see the impact from Tehran to this country's Southwest. ProPublica has written extensively about the alarming new data, and editor-at-large for Climate, Abram Lustgarten, joins me now for tonight's interview. Thank you so much for being with us. Tell me why this is happening. Well, as the climate warms, the precipitation patterns around the planet are changing dramatically. It's getting wetter in some places, but in more places over a larger area, it's getting drier. Precipitation is falling, temperatures are increasing, droughts are becoming longer and more extreme. And as that's happening, people are drilling into the ground and sucking more from these groundwater reserves called aquifers, and that overuse is steadily depleting the global supply of fresh water. And is it entirely a question of weather and climate change, or is there also mismanagement or, in some places, affected by the choices of the people who live there? Well, the two are tied together inextricably. I mean, water use by civilization is, by default, a reflection of how that water is managed and the decision that civilization makes. So, you know, when there's a groundwater reserve, which is what this study focused on slightly more than other water supplies, that groundwater has a sustainable level where it can recharge at a certain rate and be withdrawn at a certain rate, and we are overdrafting those aquifers, is what the researchers found. So we are making a decision by policy to take more water than can be replenished. And where in the U.S. is this situation most pronounced? Yeah, the researchers mapped this drying effect across the continents, and for North America and for the United States, it really, you know, characterizes the southern and western third or half of the country more than anything. So it's no big surprise to know that our southwest at Arizona, Southern California are stressed for water, but this research found that that drying area is spreading really into the high plains part of the country across Texas and then down into Mexico and into Central America. The authors of the study called this a, quote, critical emerging threat to humanity. Spin out for us, if you will, the impact and effect of these trends as they take place across the globe. Well, all the researchers that I talked to point to the ways in which water stress can lead to food production stress and food scarcity and other stresses on industry, on economies. And so that quickly translates to stress between borders and between countries. And the fear, and there's already examples of this happening, is that water stress and drought adds to the reasons why countries are finding themselves in conflict and will in the future lead to more conflict, violent conflict or strategic competition between nations around the world. And there's a lot of examples of that already happening, whether, you know, that's in Israel or in Syria or across the Middle East or what we saw recently between India and Pakistan just a couple of months ago. Are there places in which policy is being put in place that are smart as opposed to the behavior that's causing this situation to worsen? In the United States, there are a couple of states that have taken stabs at regulating groundwater. For example, California has enacted laws, Arizona has enacted laws, but in both of those states, which are really some of the best examples that we can point to, those laws are still failing to really control or rein in the rate of groundwater use in particular and to govern water use in general. And the researchers that I've talked to point to the absolute absence really of any national program in the United States or elsewhere to consider a water budget and to govern water as a national resource. Abraham Leskarten, thank you so much for being with us.

Ukraine says Russia's overnight air strikes hit a prison in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, killing at least 17 people. Another 35 were injured. Authorities say the attacks destroyed the jail buildings and damaged several nearby houses.

Zaporizhzhia

Ukraine Invasion

Russian air strikes hit a prison in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, 17 killed

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Moscow

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New York

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Washington

U.S. Justice Dept. shuts down four child abuse websites

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Bangkok

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Kuala Lumpur

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Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

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Stockholm

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Riedlingen

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Israel announces daily pauses in Gaza fighting as aid trickles in

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Athens

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Garfield Township

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Denver

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Edinburgh

Global Tariffs

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Tel Aviv-Yafo

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Israel says airdrops of aid into Gaza will begin

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Preah Vihear Province

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Manila

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Glasgow

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Pangasinan

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Breakdown