National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Iran Sinking as Groundwater Resources Disappear


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A construction worker, pictured in 1975, upholds an ancient tradition by building a shaft to reach an underground aqueduct in the Iranian desert.

Iran's insatiable demand for water, which is being drawn out of aquifers far faster than it can be replenished, is causing large chunks of farmland to sink and buildings to crack, according to a new study.

Photograph by James Blair