More than half of the world's large lakes are drying up, study finds

FILE PHOTO: A view of Elizabeth Lake, that has been dried up for several years, as the region experiences extreme heat and drought conditions, in Elizabeth Lake, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California, U.S., June 18, 2021. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci//File Photo/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - More than half of the world's large lakes and reservoirs have shrunk since the early 1990s, chiefly because of climate change, intensifying concerns about water for agriculture, hydropower and human consumption, a study published on Thursday found.

A team of international researchers reported that some of the world's most important freshwater sources - from the Caspian Sea between Europe and Asia to South America's Lake Titicaca - lost water at a cumulative rate of around 22 gigatonnes per year for nearly three decades. That's about 17 times the volume of Lake Mead, the United States' largest reservoir.