Massive Loss of Water in the Middle East over Last 7 Years

National Geographic published an alarming research study by Jay Famiglietti of University of California in Irvine on "recent (2003-2009) fresh water losses in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran." Famiglietti described how in that period the region lost over 144 cubic kilometers of fresh water, an amount equal in volume to the Dead Sea. Sixty percent of the water loss was the result of groundwater pumping. The report suggests that the arid and semi-arid regions of the world will become even more so, and the dry areas of the world will become drier. The Middle East is not alone in its water shortage, Famiglietti warns. " Analogies are present on nearly every continent, including the key aquifers in the U. S. – the Ogallala and the Central Valley."