Tigris and Euphrates rivers losing water reserves
Mar 14, 2013 19:05:23 GMT -5
Post by popcorn on Mar 14, 2013 19:05:23 GMT -5
Tigris and Euphrates rivers losing water reserves at a rapid pace
A large portion of the Middle East lost freshwater reserves rapidly during the past decade. New data revealed already an arid region of Tigris-Euphrates Basin, which grows even drier due to human consumption of water for drinking and agriculture. The research team observed the Tigris and Euphrates river basins – including parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and found that 144 cubic kilometers (117 million acre feet) of fresh water was lost from 2003 to 2009 – the roughly equivalent to the volume of the Dead Sea. About 60% of the loss was attributed to the pumping of groundwater from underground reservoirs. When a drought shrinks the available surface water supply, irrigators and others turn to groundwater.
The team led by Jay Famiglietti and Kate Voss of the University of California–Irvine (UCI) and Georgetown University with other researchers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, used data acquired by twin gravity-measuring satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE).
According to Jay Famiglietti, GRACE data show an alarming rate of decrease in total water storage in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, which currently have the second fastest rate of groundwater storage loss on Earth, after India. The rate was especially striking after the 2007 drought. Meanwhile, demand for freshwater continues to rise, and the region does not coordinate its water management because of different interpretations of international laws.
read the rest here:
thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2013/03/13/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers-is-losing-water-reserves-at-a-rapid-pace/
Revelation 16: 12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
A large portion of the Middle East lost freshwater reserves rapidly during the past decade. New data revealed already an arid region of Tigris-Euphrates Basin, which grows even drier due to human consumption of water for drinking and agriculture. The research team observed the Tigris and Euphrates river basins – including parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and found that 144 cubic kilometers (117 million acre feet) of fresh water was lost from 2003 to 2009 – the roughly equivalent to the volume of the Dead Sea. About 60% of the loss was attributed to the pumping of groundwater from underground reservoirs. When a drought shrinks the available surface water supply, irrigators and others turn to groundwater.
The team led by Jay Famiglietti and Kate Voss of the University of California–Irvine (UCI) and Georgetown University with other researchers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, used data acquired by twin gravity-measuring satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE).
According to Jay Famiglietti, GRACE data show an alarming rate of decrease in total water storage in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, which currently have the second fastest rate of groundwater storage loss on Earth, after India. The rate was especially striking after the 2007 drought. Meanwhile, demand for freshwater continues to rise, and the region does not coordinate its water management because of different interpretations of international laws.
read the rest here:
thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2013/03/13/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers-is-losing-water-reserves-at-a-rapid-pace/
Revelation 16: 12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.