Disappearing Lakes

Lakes that are reported to be disappearing: Lake Chad in Africa, Lake Kleifarvatn in Iceland, and Dojran Lake on the border of Macedonia and Greece. The cause of the dry-up is listed as severe drought. Also, numerous lakes in China are disappearing. In one province: Hebei, which once had 1,052 lakes, is listed today as only having 83. The cause is listed as falling water tables. As a result, springs dry up, streams cease to flow, rivers run dry, and lakes disappear. The survey was released in Beijing in August and reported by the Earth Policy Institute.

Offered by Mike.

There have been a lot of studies of falling water tables, and there has been no need to resort to extraterrestrial explanations to understand why water levels are falling. In the case of the Ogallala aquifer, for example, the explanation is excessive crop irrigation. You can also look at the case of the Aral Sea in central Asia and Owens and Mono Lakes in California. Owens Lake was dried up because its water source was diverted to Los Angeles; Mono Lake almost suffered the same fate but was saved by environmentalists.

Offered by Geoff.