Water pumped out from deep acquifers may add to sea level rise even more than global warming, according to new research. Even if the climate is stabilised, our water use unless checked will contribute to many coastal towns being flooded by end of the century.
The drawing of water from deep wells has caused the sea to rise by an average of a millimetre every year since 1961, the researchers concluded. The storing of freshwater in reservoirs has offset about 40% of that, but the scientists warn that this effect is diminishing. The study from Tokyo university suggests that the pumping out of groundwater is five times bigger in scale than the melting of Greenland and Antarctica ice caps!
In some parts of the world, the stores of water have now been exhausted. Saudi Arabia, for example, was self-sufficient in wheat, grown in the desert using water from deep, fossil aquifers. Now, many of the aquifers have run dry and most wheat is imported, with all growing expected to end in 2016. In northern India, the level of the water table is dropping by 4cm every year.
There are critics not quite satisfied by the study. However, it sounds another warning to the way we use our groundwater. In a city like Bangalore, the withdrawal of water is 5-6 times that of its recharging with rainwater, and if the trend continues the city's groundwater will be out and over in five years, say geologists! Unsustained water use will not only upset the hydrologial cycle but will leave millions thirsty in years to come. It has to stop.
The drawing of water from deep wells has caused the sea to rise by an average of a millimetre every year since 1961, the researchers concluded. The storing of freshwater in reservoirs has offset about 40% of that, but the scientists warn that this effect is diminishing. The study from Tokyo university suggests that the pumping out of groundwater is five times bigger in scale than the melting of Greenland and Antarctica ice caps!
In some parts of the world, the stores of water have now been exhausted. Saudi Arabia, for example, was self-sufficient in wheat, grown in the desert using water from deep, fossil aquifers. Now, many of the aquifers have run dry and most wheat is imported, with all growing expected to end in 2016. In northern India, the level of the water table is dropping by 4cm every year.
There are critics not quite satisfied by the study. However, it sounds another warning to the way we use our groundwater. In a city like Bangalore, the withdrawal of water is 5-6 times that of its recharging with rainwater, and if the trend continues the city's groundwater will be out and over in five years, say geologists! Unsustained water use will not only upset the hydrologial cycle but will leave millions thirsty in years to come. It has to stop.
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