Around the world,
water is constantly moving. From 2002
to 2016, a pair of NASA satellites witnessed massive shifts
in the freshwater stored on land related to water management,
climate change, and natural cycles.
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE mission, used precise measurements of the
of two spacecraft in Earth’s orbit to track the movement of water
through the oceans, land, and atmosphere.
NASA scientists combined GRACE data with satellite based observations of
precipitation and crop irrigation, climate model predictions, and other information
in order to identify the causes of regional trends in freshwater storage.
In this visualization, blues indicate areas
with more stored freshwater than the average, and oranges and reds
denote areas with less. The science team classified
the major trends observed by GRACE as driven by:
Natural variability, human activity or climate change.
For instance, the steady decrease in freshwater storage in Greenland
is caused by the melting of glaciers, which drain water into the oceans.