by Daniel Brouse
September 6, 2025
During the 2025 pool season (May through September), water levels showed a net loss of 16 inches solely due to evaporation. While this may seem like a localized measurement, it illustrates a much broader hydrological imbalance already underway. The same processes driving evaporation in a backyard pool are simultaneously pulling moisture out of soils, wetlands, forests, and croplands. In other words, the land surface is drying while the atmosphere is becoming more moisture-laden. This shift not only stresses ecosystems and agriculture through soil desiccation, but also loads the atmosphere with excess water vapor—the most powerful greenhouse gas—fueling heavier rainfall events, flash flooding, and hydraulic whiplash across regions. What looks like a simple 16-inch seasonal loss is, in reality, a microcosm of how climate-driven water cycle disruption is playing out on a global scale.