As global temperatures rise, surface waters – including rivers, lakes and reservoirs – are becoming dangerously erratic. This is because in a hotter climate, there are rapid swings between intense evaporation and sudden, extreme rainfall.
Water is at the centre of the climate crisis. In Africa, around 400 million people currently lack access to basic drinking water services.
But beneath the continent lies an invisible safety net. Africa sits atop an estimated 0.66 million cubic kilometres of groundwater – around 20 times the amount of freshwater stored in all of Africa’s lakes combined.
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Africa’s vast underground water resources are under pressure from climate change - how to manage them
