Rising temperatures due to climate change have sapped more than 10 trillion gallons of water from the Colorado River over the last two decades, enough water to completely fill Lake Mead from top to bottom, according to a recent study from researchers at UCLA. Scientists and water managers alike have long pointed to climate change as a key reason for the Colorado River’s dwindling flows. But the new study, published in the journal Water Resources Research, gives us a clearer look at exactly how much human-induced climate change has depleted the river that supplies water to some 40 million Americans in the Southwest.

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