Global terrestrial water storage (TWS) anomalies reached a record low of –9.94 cm in 2023, decreasing 0.80 cm from 2022. These reductions largely reflect ongoing TWS losses from glacial melt and groundwater use for irrigation, offset by gains in central and eastern Antarctica and La Niña-related tropical wetting.
Key points
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Of the –9.94 cm TWS anomaly in 2023, –10.20 cm is contributed by anthropogenic factors, offset by +0.26 cm from natural factors.
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La Niña-associated tropical wetting led to multi-year natural gains in global TWS, slowing the rate of TWS loss since 2020.
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TWS exhibited natural drying trends across northern mid-high latitudes and pockets of strong negative anomalies in south-western North America and South America.
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Data availability
The GRACE/FO TWS data, developed by the Center for Space Research (CSR) at the University of Texas, Austin4, can be downloaded at the GRACE Tellus website (https://www2.csr.utexas.edu/grace/RL06_mascons.html).
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Acknowledgements
The authors were supported by the NASA GRACE-FO Science Team and the NASA Western Water Application Office.
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Li, B., Rodell, M. Terrestrial water storage in 2023. Nat Rev Earth Environ 5, 247–249 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00545-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00545-x
