NASA satellites discovered that Earth's surface has lost enough water to empty Lake Erie two and a half times since 2015. And the problem could be here to stay.
I understand the basic overuse and mismanagement :) All of these things are true and quantifiable to a point - But I did mean to ask how was this measurement indicative of a specific amount of despoiled water, if all that satellite measures is relative changes in gravitational motion. A re-read of the article and this segment seems to have answered the question - “dumping more rain in faster and more powerful storms that are more likely to run off than to seep into drier and more compact surfaces.” which seems to mean it was indeed being absorbed instead of staying in sloshy bits on the surface or becoming atmospheric, therefore causing detectable gravitational wobble.
I understand the basic overuse and mismanagement :) All of these things are true and quantifiable to a point - But I did mean to ask how was this measurement indicative of a specific amount of despoiled water, if all that satellite measures is relative changes in gravitational motion. A re-read of the article and this segment seems to have answered the question - “dumping more rain in faster and more powerful storms that are more likely to run off than to seep into drier and more compact surfaces.” which seems to mean it was indeed being absorbed instead of staying in sloshy bits on the surface or becoming atmospheric, therefore causing detectable gravitational wobble.
Thanks though, for the clarification.