Water levels dropping in world rivers, including Colorado

The Colorado River is among those in some of the world's most populous regions that are losing water. [photo credit, National Park Service]

Research by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., "suggests that the reduced flows in many cases are associated with climate change, and could potentially threaten future supplies of food and water."

Stream flows from 1948 to 2005 show significant changes in 1/3 of the world's largest rivers. Those with decreased flows outnumber those with increased flow by 2.5 times.

The results will be published May 15 in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), NCAR's sponsor.

Other major rivers with less water include the Yellow River in northern China, the Ganges in India, and the Niger in West Africa.

[parts of this post were taken from material posted by NSF]