The world’s freshwater is getting saltier. Why?

Around the world, the planet’s freshwater is getting saltier. And it’s because of people. For decades, salting roads, fertilizer run-off and evaporation driven by human-caused climate change have upped the salinity of lakes, rivers and groundwater. All that salt is detrimental to a lot of aquatic life and can be problematic for drinking water, too. But there’s still time to reverse course. In fact, many people have already started to change their ways. Today, producer Berly McCoy is on the case to see what solutions exist. 

This is part of a whole series on the world’s dwindling water supply. Check out the rest of the water series:
Part 1: When the wells run dry
Part 2: The world’s groundwater problem
Part 3: Freshwater’s growing salt problem

Email us your questions about water, the wider environment – or anything else to do with science at shortwave@npr.org. We may turn it into an episode in the future!

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