Water availability tracks changes
Experts say climate change is leaving Australia parched.
An international team of researchers report that human-driven climate change may explain changes in water availability during the driest month of the year.
The researchers developed models to study changes in global water availability from 1902 to 2014, a period during which our planet experienced a global warming of approximately 1°C.
Their results found that some regions have experienced increased water availability, while others had decreased water availability, with drier dry seasons predominantly in Australia, western North America, northern Asia, southern South America, and eastern Africa.
The authors say that global changes in water availability could not be explained by natural climate variability alone, and that human-induced climate change was instead the main cause.