A new study suggests that as the climate warms, plants in North America, Eurasia, and parts of Central and South America will consume more water that may lead to water crisis for people. The study challenges many climate scientists’ assumption that as carbon dioxide strengths increase in the atmosphere, plants will reduce their water consumption, leaving more freshwater for humans. But the new research suggests that this theory is limited to the tropics and the extremely high latitudes that have abundant freshwater. The study was co-authored by Lamont-Doherty scientists Richard Seager, Jason Smerdon, Park Williams, and Benjamin Cook.