Climate change and human activities increasingly threaten lakes that store 87% of Earth’s liquid surface fresh water. Yet, recent trends and drivers of lake volume change remain largely unknown globally. Here, we analyze the 1972 largest global lakes using three decades of satellite observations, climate data, and hydrologic models, finding statistically significant storage declines for 53% of these water bodies over the period 1992–2020. The net volume loss in natural lakes is largely attributable to climate warming, increasing evaporative demand, and human water consumption, whereas sedimentation dominates storage losses in reservoirs. We estimate that roughly one-quarter of the world’s population resides in a basin of a drying lake, underscoring the necessity of incorporating climate change and sedimentation impacts into sustainable water resources management.

中文翻译：

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卫星显示全球湖泊水储量普遍下降

气候变化和人类活动日益威胁着储存着地球表面 87% 液态淡水的湖泊。然而，最近的趋势和湖泊体积变化的驱动因素在全球范围内仍然鲜为人知。在这里，我们使用三个十年的卫星观测、气候数据和水文模型分析了 1972 年最大的全球湖泊，发现在 1992 年至 2020 年期间，这些水体中有 53% 的蓄水量在统计上显着下降。天然湖泊的净体积损失主要归因于气候变暖、蒸发需求增加和人类用水，而沉积作用主导了水库的蓄水损失。我们估计世界上大约四分之一的人口居住在一个干涸的湖盆中，