The Vanishing We Can't See

Not every water crisis is visible. Beneath farms worldwide lie aquifers — huge underground stores of water built up over thousands of years. When rivers fall short, farmers pump from these reserves faster than rain can refill them.

India and parts of the US already pump faster than nature replaces it. Lake Chad, once a vast oasis shared by four African nations, has shrunk to a fraction of its old size, squeezing millions who fished and farmed its shores.