The Maldives are among the islands which could be affected (Getty)
For those living on the world's smallest islands, their relationship with water is often a fraught one.

Not only are they at risk of sinking below the ocean, the majority of them could now be in danger of drying out because of climate change, according to new research.

Should the prediction become reality, it could leave around 16 million people the challenge of getting their daily fresh water.

The Cook Islands, Christmas Island, and Cocos (Keeling) Islands off Australia have been singled out by researchers who estimate 73 percent of the tiny nations could become more arid by 2050.

In the study, published in Nature Climate Change today, author Kristopher Karnauskas and his colleagues from the University of Colorado Boulder used a method to calculate an aridity change index for 80 island groups around the world.

Small islands, like French Polynesia and the Marshall Islands, had previously been missed from climate models because of their size.

So the new calculation was done by estimating the water loss from evaporation through plant leaves or from surfaces.

The model found a tendency toward increasing aridity at more than 73 percent of the island groups.

They say while around half of the islands, mostly in the deep tropics, will see more rain, increases in evaporation were more consistent across the islands.

This would mean a shift of global island fresh water balance toward greater aridity.

The researchers say the potential fresh water problems have important implications for vulnerable populations on small islands as they adapt to a changing climate.

Newshub.

Read more: http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/freshwater-could-be-big-problem-for-small-islands-2016041115#ixzz45XnxJUOu