A water budget is a quantitative accounting framework that describes the balance between inputs, outputs, and storage changes of water within a defined system, such as a watershed, aquifer, soil profile, or climatic region. It is typically expressed as P + I + Gi = ET + R + Go + ΔS, where P is precipitation, I is artificial inputs (e.g., irrigation), Gi and Go are groundwater inflows and outflows, ET is evapotranspiration, R is surface runoff, and ΔS is change in water storage. Water budgets are fundamental in hydrology and climate studies for assessing resource availability, modeling fluxes, and evaluating impacts of land-use or climate change on hydrological regimes.
The Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on Earth, is shrinking. Not fluctuating, not entering another natural cycle, but shrinking.
Earth Sciences
Jun 22, 2026
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22
About two-thirds of the U.S. is in some stage of drought in late spring 2026, yet at the same time the country has been seeing more intense downpours. It might seem contradictory, but both are symptoms of rising global temperatures.
Environment
May 26, 2026
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14
The volume of water drawn from Scotland's rivers and lochs by the agricultural sector surged by more than 500% during periods of water scarcity in recent years, new research has found. The University of Strathclyde study ...
Environment
May 18, 2026
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10
The "Asian Water Towers" (AWTs), a high-altitude region with a mean elevation exceeding 4,000 meters, serve as the primary freshwater source for nearly 2 billion people. While the Indian summer monsoon is well known for shaping ...
Earth Sciences
May 12, 2026
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It's a well-established fact that forests and water are deeply connected. For decades, paired-watershed experiments—a scientific method for evaluating land-use impacts on water quantity or quality—have shown that when we ...
Environment
Apr 4, 2026
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83
A key question in any discussion about climate is "How much rain fell?" But perhaps there is an even more important one. Like any household budget, the global water economy is based on "income," that is, water entering the ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 23, 2026
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20
Even as farmers shift toward less water-intensive crops, climate change is pushing agricultural water consumption upward in Central Asia. A new study by IAMO researchers shows that rising temperatures and atmospheric water ...
Environment
Feb 12, 2026
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56
Understanding how water moves through the Earth system is fundamental to predicting climate impacts and ensuring sustainable water management. Yet despite decades of research, uncertainties persist regarding how global precipitation ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 15, 2026
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How much fresh water is in the United States? It's a tough question, since most of the water is underground, accessible at varying depths. In previous decades, it's been answered indirectly from data on rainfall and evaporation. ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 14, 2026
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1136
Groundwater is a critical resource in Southern California, where long-term drought and climate change place increasing pressure on local aquifers. Some regions, like the Hollywood Basin (a small region in and around the West ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 17, 2025
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