Scientists map loss of #groundwater storage around the world
For the first time, a new study maps this loss of groundwater storage capacity around the world. "Our study puts land subsidence happening from excessive groundwater pumping to a global context," said Fahim Hasan, a Ph.D. candidate at Colorado State University. They found global aquifer storage capacity is disappearing at a rate of approximately 17 km3 per year (about the size of 7,000 Great Pyramids of Giza). https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientists-loss-groundwater-storage-world.html
Overusing groundwater ended North Africa's Garamantian civilization.
' "As you look at modern examples like the San Joaquin Valley, people are using the groundwater up [faster] than it's being replenished," says [study lead author Frank] Schwartz. "California had a great wet winter this year, but that followed 20 years of drought. [If drier years continue] California will ultimately run into the same problem as the Garamantians.... " '
Groundwater is the world's most extracted raw material - nearly a trillion* tons per year.
Satellite measurements have shown that total overdraft of groundwater (withdrawals in excess of natural recharge) is around 40% of all groundwater withdrawals.
*) a million million. #water#watersupply#groundwater
"#Groundwater provides 80 per cent of Switzerland's drinking water.
Samples were taken at more than 500 measuring stations.
NAQUA found that the potentially harmful chemical additives are widespread in Switzerland’s main drinking water resource.
However, Swiss limit values were only exceeded at one station, according to the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)."
Forever chemicals have been found in almost half of Swiss groundwater.
Samples were taken at more than 500 measuring stations. The National Groundwater Observatory found that the potentially harmful chemical additives are widespread in Switzerland’s main drinking water resource.
However, Swiss limit values were only exceeded at one station, according to the Federal Office for the Environment.
An illuminating talk today by Ken Belitz #USGS and the 2023 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer. He spoke on machine learning methods applied to #hydrogeology
Next week I've been asked to talk about cave percolation water hydrology to a group of cave guides.
I'll be explaining how the water gets from the surface to dripping into a cave.
I'm going to try to make a physical model - something to fill with water (or similar liquids) and turn into a drippy mess.
So far I have some soil storage (a sponge), a water store in the limestone (PVC pipe) that I'll make leaky (drill holes to come), and some tree water use (clear tubes, human suction needed).
I'm open to all ideas for how to make this work well!
In particular, next I need a (cheap) waterproof land surface and cave roof
We were recently asked by @theconversationau to write an article about our recent research on the decline in groundwater replenishment in SW Western Australia, and how it is unprecedented in the last 800 years.
The comments section is open too at The Conversation, should anyone have comments or questions about how the rainfall decline in the far SW of Australia has led to decreased groundwater replenishment.
So far we have seen interesting discussions on how to improve water management in a region of decreasing rainfall.
And some speculations on the possible roles of land clearing, cloud seeding, etc. on rainfall in the region (and nope, the rainfall decline is due to climate change)
Florida is another step closer to paving its roads with phosphogypsum — a radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry — after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill into law Thursday.
@Free_Press#florida has actually been using radioactive slag from phosphate fertilizer plants in roads & buildings for almost 100 years. Legislation preventing it may have passed sometime in the 60’s or 70’s, I don’t know, but there was a huge scandal when an elementary school in Pasco county was discovered to have used “donated” concrete blocks in building. #desantis#radiation#schools#children#groundwater#roads#Floriduh
Humans pumped so much groundwater out of the Earth that the planet has begun to wobble detectably on its axis, a new study has found. On its own terms, the magnitude of the new wobble is slight — a…
"Almost every gas station eventually pollutes the earth beneath it, experts told Grist. The main culprit: the underground storage tanks that hold tens of thousands of gallons of fuel, one of the most common sources of groundwater pollution. Typically, two or three of these giant, submarine-shaped tanks are buried under a station to store the gasoline and diesel that gets piped to the pump. A large tank might be 55 feet long and hold as many as 30,000 gallons; a typical tank might hold 10,000 gallons. Leaks can occur at any point — in the storage tank itself, in the gas pumps, and in the pipes that connect them. Hazardous chemicals can then spread rapidly through the soil, seeping into groundwater, lakes, or rivers. Even a dribble can pollute a wide area. Ten gallons of gasoline can contaminate 12 million gallons of groundwater — a significant risk, given that groundwater is the source of drinking water for nearly half of all Americans."
"Highland Council's senior environmental health officer Patricia Sheldon said: "In recent days, we have received several reports of private #water supply drying up or their source of water is exceptionally low."
#Scottish Water has urged its customers across #Scotland to use water as efficiently as possible in homes and gardens to help conserve supplies."
Translation for those outside Scotland: #ClimateChange is coming for your scotch #whisky.
"As surface #water and #groundwater levels dwindle year by year, a crisis awaits. It’s simple maths. Demand is outstripping supply.
Little old #England manages to encompass many global water problems – scarcity, overabstraction, pollution, underinvestment, government and regulatory failings, environmental degradation and corporate misconduct – all within the confines of one small country in the far west of Europe."
Human society is shifting the tilt of the Earth (thehill.com)
Humans pumped so much groundwater out of the Earth that the planet has begun to wobble detectably on its axis, a new study has found. On its own terms, the magnitude of the new wobble is slight — a…
Humans Have Shifted Earth's Axis by Pumping Lots of Groundwater (www.smithsonianmag.com)
Absolutely crazy story!...