GEF

Unit 4  |  The Global Water Crisis 105 In some areas, increased global temperatures are making arid areas drier, meaning that severe droughts are occurring more frequently or lasting longer. Between 2006 and 2010, Australia experienced some of its driest conditions on record, drastically reducing the flows of important river systems such as the Murray-Darling in the heavily populated southeast region of the country. Other important agricultural areas such as the Western U.S., the Mediterranean basin, and Southern Africa are also experiencing record droughts. Another major concern of climate change is the shrinking of glaciers that supply fresh water tomany densely populated areas. Many of these continental glaciers are inmountainous regions of the tropics and are very sensitive to increased global temperatures. Retreating glaciers in the Himalayas put the water supply at risk. One example is the Himalayan glaciers that supply water to the rapidly growing populations of India and Pakistan. The Indus and Ganges rivers that flow through these countries are supplied by glaciers that have shrunk substantially during recent decades. While the rate of glacier shrinking remains subject to further research, scientists partially blame the decrease of these vital water sources on higher temperatures due to climate change. ?  DID YOU KNOW Areas that depend on crops and livestock suffer economi- cally during droughts. Since January 2011, Texas has suffered nearly $8 billion in crop and livestock losses due to drought. In 2016 alone, California had nearly $250 million in crop revenue losses.