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Humans have pumped so much groundwater, we’ve shifted Earth’s axis

16 June 2023

Changes in the distribution of groundwater around the planet between 1993 and 2010 were enough to make Earth's poles drift by 80 centimetres

A field of soya beans that has been hit by drought

Europe to become a hotspot for flash droughts caused by climate change

13 April 2023

The warming climate is causing soils to lose their moisture more quickly, resulting in damaging, rapid-onset droughts

People in Cape Town, South Africa, refill water bottles at Newlands Spring in January 2018 amid the city's drought

Rich people use so much water that it is threatening the global supply

10 April 2023

A three-year drought in Cape Town, South Africa, may have been worsened by high-income people filling their swimming pools and irrigating their gardens

US reservoirs are evaporating more quickly because of climate change

9 April 2023

The rate of evaporation at US reservoirs is speeding up, and could significantly increase by the middle of the century if emissions continue to rise

The newly discovered Moai statue found on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island

Moai statue discovered in a dried-up lake on Easter Island

2 March 2023

A moai statue has been discovered on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, at the bottom of a lake that has been shrinking for several years

Rare triple-dip La Niña is mostly to blame for South America's drought

22 February 2023

Historically dry and hot weather in Argentina and neighbouring countries is being driven by the La Niña weather system and exacerbated by climate change

A vehicle travels along a flooded street after

How California can capture stormwater to fight off the drought

6 January 2023

With atmospheric rivers drenching the US west coast, researchers are testing methods to capture as much stormwater as possible to replenish depleted aquifers

Part of the Guadiana river has dried up and gives way to dry land under the Puente de la Mesta medieval bridge in Villarta de los Montes, in the central-western Spanish region of Extremadura, on August 16, 2022. - Temperatures in Spain have been very high this summer with several unusual heat waves. Scientists say human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events including heatwaves and droughts more frequent and more intense. (Photo by THOMAS COEX / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)

Extreme drought in 2022 exposed fragility of Europe’s energy system

14 December 2022

The past year saw temperature records fall and severe drought in many parts of the world – and it exposed how easily extreme weather can threaten Europe’s energy system

Aerial view of ancient Maya city Chichen Itza

US megadrought could upend life as we know it – just look to history

17 November 2022

We don't know exactly how the current megadrought in south-western North America will end, but there are examples to learn from throughout history

An aerial view shows the brine pools and processing areas of the Soquimich (SQM) lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat, the world's second largest salt flat and the largest lithium deposit currently in production, with over a quarter of the world's known reserves, in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, January 10, 2013. SQM fertilizer company has fired its chief executive after it became embroiled in an election campaign financing scandal that has rocked the Chilean establishment, tainting business leaders and politicians with close links to the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Picture taken January 10, 2013. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (CHILE - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT POLITICS) - GM1EB3I04EU01

Drought, not lithium mining, is drying out Chile's largest salt flat

4 November 2022

Lithium mining has been blamed for the drying out of a region in the Andes where the metal is naturally found – but drought may be the culprit instead