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Earth's surface water change over the past 30 years

Earth's surface gained 115,000 km2 of water and 173,000 km2 of land over the past 30 years, including 20,135 km2 of water and 33,700 km2 of land in coastal areas. Here, we analyse the gains and losses through the Deltares Aqua Monitor — an open tool that detects land and water changes around the globe.

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Figure 1: Heat map of global surface water and land changes.
Figure 2: Largest surface water and land changes from 1985 until 2015 grouped by drainage basins.
Figure 3: Examples of surface water changes between 1985 and 2015, detected using the Aqua Monitor.

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Correspondence to Gennadii Donchyts.

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Donchyts, G., Baart, F., Winsemius, H. et al. Earth's surface water change over the past 30 years. Nature Clim Change 6, 810–813 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3111

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