The planet has endured massive freshwater losses over the past two decades due to the combined effects of climate change, overconsumption and drought, a new study has found.

Arid land areas are expanding at a rate roughly twice the size of California each year, according to the study, published in Science Advances. Dry spots are now drying up faster than wet areas are getting wetter — reversing historic hydrological patterns, per the research.

This continental-scale phenomenon of “mega-drying,” the study authors warned, could have severe consequences on water security, agriculture, sea level rise and global stability. Describing their results as “staggering,” the researchers determined that 75 percent of the world’s population lives in 101 countries that have been losing freshwater for the past 22 years

“These findings send perhaps the most alarming message yet about the impact of climate change on our water resources,” principal investigator Jay Famiglietti, a professor at Arizona State University’s........

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