Mankind's insatiable thirst for water resources in recent decades has pushed our most precious natural resource to the brink. Bodies of water, stressed by human consumption, are disappearing quicker than we ever imagined. Many of the world's largest rivers have become victimized by water demand. In fact, as the slideshow above shows, 18 of the world's mightiest rivers are undergoing "extremely high" water stress, meaning more than 80 percent of their flow is withdrawn each year.
Couple water demand with a grim forecast for more severe droughts due to climate change, and the stress on some bodies of water becomes too much to bear. Ancient shorelines are retreating and leaving behind death and decay in the place of once thriving wetland ecosystems.
Read the entire article at: http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/dried-lakes-rivers-and-other-bodies-water-disappearing-fast-20140425?pageno=1
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