Science Snippets: Water Disappears as Earth Warms

Draft script:

The title of this video makes an obvious statement. As Earth or any part of Earth warms, evaporation accelerates. As a result, surface water evaporates and goes into the atmosphere. Considering Earth is in the midst of the most rapid environmental change in planetary history, we must accept evaporation to be at an all-time high. This short video describes examples of our rapidly drying planet.

From CNN comes a story titled The world's highest navigable lake is drying out. The story was published 3 September 2023. Here’s the lede: “Water levels at Lake Titicaca – the highest navigable lake in the world and South America’s largest – are dropping precipitously after an unprecedented winter heat wave.” The first paragraph concludes with this sentence: “The shocking decline is affecting tourism, fishing and agriculture, which locals rely on to make a living.”

The article published by CNN goes on: “Visitors have long been attracted to the blue waters and open skies of South America’s largest lake, which straddles more than 3,200 square miles across the border of Peru and Bolivia.

Sometimes described as an ‘inland sea,’ it is home to Aymara, Quechua, and Uros indigenous communities and sits at an altitude of around 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) in the central Andes mountain range, making it the highest navigable lake in the world. The extreme altitude also exposes the lake to high levels of solar radiation, which enhances evaporation and constitutes most of its water losses.

More than three million people live around the lake, relying on its waters to fish, farm and attract tourists who boost the economy of an otherwise marginalized region.

Now the lake is at risk of losing some of that magic.”

The story at CNN indicates that precipitation has been much lower than average. Furthermore, “… these changes have become more extreme due to the climate crisis.” Yes, even the renowned corporate media outlet CNN acknowledges that we are in the midst of a climate crisis.

Not surprisingly, “[c]ommunities that rely on fishing are struggling as low water levels adds to mounting problems: declining fish stocks due to pollution and overfishing.

Agriculture has also been impacted by drought, with regional authorities reporting that crops have suffered badly in the last harvest season. The vast majority of quinoa and potato crops, both local staples, have been affected, as have oats used to feed livestock.”

A local seller of textiles was quoted in the CNN article with respect to people leaving the area: “They had to, they didn’t have enough money for basic necessities like food.”

Need I point out yet again that if you have access to healthy food, you are among the most fortunate people on Earth? As much as we depend upon clean air, potable water, and healthy food for our own survival, we seem intent upon monetizing and ultimately destroying every source of air, water, and food.

The story at CNN concludes with two sentences from an analyst at the International Crisis Group: “While the lake’s fluctuations have been linked to climate variability and natural oscillations, the exacerbating influence of climate change heightens the need for sustained management strategies. Local communities reliant on the lake for livelihoods are particularly vulnerable, underscoring the urgency of addressing the challenges posed by more intense fluctuations in the water level.”

South America is not the only place experiencing decreased water supply. Let’s turn to the Arctic region with a LiveScience article published 19 February 2024. Titled ‘More unzipping of the landscape’: Arctic permafrost could crumble into rivers, unleashing devastating feedback loop, the story displays the self-reinforcing feedback loop involving more heating leading to permafrost melting, the subsequent creation of new rivers, and additional carbon released into the atmosphere. This would lead to additional planetary heating. Here’s the subhead: “Permafrost thaw could result in new rivers forming across the Arctic, potentially unleashing 35 million car journeys’ worth of carbon every year.”

The opening paragraph of the LiveScience article includes this information: “Permafrost isn’t just a feature of Arctic landscapes – it actually shapes those landscapes by directing the flow of water. And as global temperatures increase, this permanently frozen ground could give way to create new rivers and expand existing ones, which would release huge quantities of carbon into the atmosphere.”

The article in LiveScience gives the impression that a tipping point lies in the future. However, a peer-reviewed paper published on 23 April 2015 indicates otherwise. Specifically, I refer to a paper in Geophysical Research Letters titled Detecting the signature of permafrost thaw in Arctic rivers. The Abstract of the paper in Geophysical Research Letters opens with this sentence: “Climate change induced permafrost thaw in the Arctic is mobilizing ancient dissolved organic carbon into headwater streams.” In other words, a peer-reviewed, open-access paper published more than nine years ago indicates that the self-reinforcing feedback loop feared by the article in LiveScience is already occurring.

The article at LiveScience points to a paper in the renowned Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The peer-reviewed, open-access paper was published 1 February 2024. It is titled Permafrost extent sets drainage density in the Arctic. It opens with a Significance section, which includes this information: “Our compilation of >69,000 watersheds showed that landscapes underlain by permafrost have fewer channels per watershed area … and fewer river valleys compared to their temperate counterparts. Limited channelization likely results from frozen ground, which is vulnerable to climate-induced change. Geomorphically vulnerable hillslope positions may store significant organic carbon, prone to oxidation and greenhouse gas production if exposed; one degree of warming could lead to the equivalent emissions of 35 million cars.”

Not only have we known about the relevant self-reinforcing feedback loop for nearly a decade, but we also know that “one degree of warming” is well behind us. Governments of the world agreed that we passed the 2 C Rubicon in October 2023. The Arctic is warming much faster than the rest of the planet.

Yes, water is disappearing from Earth’s surface as the planet warms. Yes, it’s a tragic situation. And yes, we’ve known about it for a long time. Reinventing the wheel is a fine idea, as long as it doesn’t mean reinventing the same wheel, over and over again.