The World Is Getting Dry Fast
The world’s soil is getting drier, and the pace of the change is increasing. The amount of water lost in soil over the last four decades is enough to affect the Earth’s spinning.
In Science, the authors of “Abrupt sea level rise and Earth’s gradual pole shift reveal permanent hydrological regime changes in the 21st century,” told Inside Climate News that “The persistent loss of water from land to oceans has dried out huge portions of every continent and may be irreversible.”
Dought Does Not Happen Fast
The effects are and will be profound. Drier soil will affect agriculture in some areas. The scientist involved in the study said this was not linear. “We are very, very cautious about floods, earthquakes and wildfires, because they happen in the timescale of our life. The impacts are very visible, but drought is a creeping disaster.”
The loss of moisture also means rising seas because the water does not disappear when it leaves the soil.
These trends mean more flooding along the coasts, and probably more drought inland
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