The volume of water lost from the land amounts to 334 cubic km, which is almost as much as all Africans have consumed over the period.More info at BBC News.
The data comes from Nasa spacecraft that can detect changes in gravity caused by water as it cycles between the sea, the atmosphere and the land.
Experts stress no firm conclusions should be drawn from the short study.
Professor Jay Famiglietti from the University of California-Irvine said much longer times series were needed to detect real trends and any signal that might indicate a significant shift in climate.
"There are natural climate variations, the natural ups and downs," he explained.
Amount of water in Africa decreasing
Posted on Sunday, December 17 2006 @ 3:05 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Satellite data shows significant drying in Africa in the past three years: