Translated material
Ecologists have discovered a decrease in water volume in half of the world's rivers
American scientists have calculated that over 34 years, almost half of the world's rivers have decreased the volume of water that flows through them. The decrease in flow in some rivers reaches 5-10 percent, environmentalists have found. The results of the study are reported by CNN, a fragment of which is available in the journal Science.
Scientists have mapped the flow of water through the world's 2.9 million rivers from 1984 to 2018. To do this, they used satellite data and computer modeling. They analyzed how water flows at river mouths and headwaters have changed over the years.
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According to the study, the volume of water passing through the mouths of 44 percent of rivers has decreased over 35 years. Among other things, scientists have recorded a decrease in water flow at the mouths of such large rivers as the Yangtze in China, the Congo in Africa and La Plata in South America.
Hydrology professor Dongmei Feng explained that the decrease in estuary flows indicates a decrease in the amount of fresh water needed for drinking, irrigating crops and raising animals.
In contrast, scientists found an increase in water flow at the headwaters of 17 percent of rivers. This effect mainly affects small mountain rivers. Scientists attribute this to accelerated ice melting due to climate change.
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Co-author of the study Colin Glisson told CNN that in some rivers around the world the flow of water has changed by 5-10. Glisson called the changes "rapid" and said the study's findings were surprising to him.
The authors of the study cite human activity as a possible reason for changes in water flow in rivers. Their colleague, hydrologist Hannah Cloke, agrees. "There is a direct link between human activity and changes in the vital water cycle," she told CNN.
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