What they sent back shows that nearly 6 billion people — three-fourths of humanity — live in the 101 countries that have been losing water. Large parts of the world are getting drier Vast swaths of the world are losing fresh water. In addition to the melting of glaciers and ice caps, many regions are getting drier and depleting their groundwater. The researchers estimated that the world’s drying regions have been losing 368 billion metric tons of water per year. AdvertisementPrevious studies have shown dropping groundwater levels, dry regions getting drier and these water losses contributing to sea level rise .