Humanity is in Control of the Majority of Earth's Freshwater, and It's a Daunting Thought

"In what many believe is an incredibly surprising fact, something has shifted in the natural world, and in an almost unimaginable scale at that. And what that is, is the fact that humans are now in control of the majority of the world's freshwater, which is one of the planet's most vital resources.

Researchers share that they did their first global survey on human impact on the water cycle. These research scientists utilized NASA satellites in order to remotely measure and quantify the level of water that remains in the world's bodies of fresh water, totaling 227,386 of the world's lakes, ponds, and both in the small and large reservoirs.

Although human-managed reservoirs -- like artificial dams and other forms of water reserves -- only make up '3.9 percent of this giant planetary-scale system of surface-level water storage,' what may seem like just a miniscule amount of water is actually proof that of just how much control humans have over the world's current freshwater fluctuations."