At a Glance
- Global warming has caused land-based water storage to drop by over 2,000 gigatons in 20 years, a decline that surpasses ice loss from Greenland and threatens agriculture and sea levels.
- Researchers found that underground water levels fail to recover even after significant rainfall due to increased plant water demands and human overuse, leading to long-term soil moisture deficits.
- The persistent loss of water storage places irrigation-dependent farming at risk and makes land more vulnerable to climate extremes, with droughts and floods occurring in rapid succession.
- Elevated heat from climate change keeps evaporation and plant transpiration high, preventing natural water recovery and worsening the imbalance between water use and replenishment.
- Declining soil moisture is also subtly altering Earth’s rotation, highlighting how water loss impacts ecosystems, farming, and the planet’s geophysical stability.
A recent study reveals that global warming has significantly reduced the amount of water stored on land, which could have lasting effects on agriculture and sea level rise. The research, published in Science, shows that Earth’s soil moisture dropped by more than 2,000 gigatons over the last 20 years. This loss is more than double the amount of ice lost from Greenland between 2002 and 2006. This reduction in water storage is linked to increased droughts, rising sea levels, and even shifts in the Earth’s poles, signaling serious long-term environmental changes.
The study, led by hydrology professor Dongryeol Ryu and researcher Ki-Weon Seo from the University of Melbourne, used multiple data sources to confirm that Earth’s land is losing water faster than it can recover. They found that underground water did not return to previous levels even after significant rainfall events. This lack of recovery is due to the increased heat stress on plants, making them need more water, while human activities, such as agriculture and industrial water use, continue to take more than the planet can replenish.
The researchers emphasize that the decrease in water storage could significantly impact farming, particularly as the water needed for irrigation continues to be unsustainable. They also noted that the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, such as floods following droughts, demonstrates how challenging it is for the land to recover. Climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions, is likely to keep the rate of water evaporation and transpiration high, further exacerbating these issues.
The study also uncovered a surprising result: the changing moisture levels on Earth contribute to a slight wobble in the planet’s rotation. This finding provides more evidence of the interconnectedness of Earth’s systems and serves as a warning. Experts like Katharine Jacobs from the University of Arizona stress the urgency of addressing climate change to reverse these trends.
References
- Walling, M. (2025, March 27). Earth’s storage of water in soil, lakes and rivers is dwindling. And it’s especially bad for farming. Phys.Org; Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-earth-storage-soil-lakes-rivers.html
- Samaniego, L. (2025). Permanent shifts in the global water cycle. Science, 387(6741), 1348–1350. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adw5851
- Seo, K.-W., Ryu, D., Jeon, T., Youm, K., Kim, J.-S., Oh, E. H., Chen, J., Famiglietti, J. S., & Wilson, C. R. (2025). Abrupt sea level rise and Earth’s gradual pole shift reveal permanent hydrological regime changes in the 21st century. Science, 387(6741), 1408–1413. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adq6529
