At the moment, almost ninety percent of the global water consumption is for irrigation purposes, with more than forty percent of global crop production taking place on irrigated land, representing around twenty percent of global farmland, while three hundred and fifty two million hectares are equipped for irrigation, about eighty-four percent actually irrigated.
Seventy percent of global groundwater withdrawal is for agricultural purposes such as irrigation, with average global groundwater removal put at 648 cubic kilometers per year, an uncertainty range of 465 to 881 cubic kilometers, projections indicating a continued increase in groundwater withdrawal, potentially reaching 1,535 cubic kilometers by 2050.
Around half of the water supply used by the global population for domestic purposes comes from groundwater, with the global demand for freshwater increasing by one percent per year since the 1980s, putting pressure on groundwater resources.
Consequently, it is not surprising that with increased irrigation activities and demand for freshwater from groundwater groundwater level declines have accelerated over the past four decades in 30 percent of the world's regional aquifers, groundwater dropping in 71 percent of aquifers systems studied between 2000 and 2022, 81 percent of global regions showing significant groundwater changes, and 48 percent experiencing decline.
Over 70 percent increase in irrigated cropland area has taken place in the last forty to fifty years, the irrigated area worldwide increasing at an annual rate of two to three percent in the past several decades, the global micro irrigation systems market set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.3 percent from 2024 to 2030, a lot of it from groundwater withdrawal
There was a global freshwater withdrawal increase from around 600 cubic kilometers per year in 1900 to 3,880 cubic kilometers per year in 2017, nations like Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey accounting for a lot of the freshwater from global groundwater withdrawal.
About one percent increase per year in domestic use of freshwater has been recorded since the 1980s, with domestic water demand growing by 600 percent from 1960 to 2014, at a faster rate than than many sectors, the numbers keeping pace with exploding population and consumption.
Unfortunately, the rapid increase in irrigated areas, the acceleration in groundwater withdrawal, and growth in the domestic use of groundwater come with explosive consequences for freshwater, health, climate change, and other important issues.
Due to unsustainable groundwater extraction and other reasons, measurements indicate the average amount of freshwater on land was 290 cubic miles lower than the average levels between 2002 and 2014.
Due to unsustainable groundwater withdrawal, climate change is exacerbated by the altering of regional temperatures and precipitation patterns, contributing to local warming from heat trapped in the soil due to falling groundwater levels, a scenario not unexpected, since studies reveal that an increase in mean temperatures by one degree Celsius was associated with a reduction of groundwater.
Due to unsustainable groundwater use, where 21 out of 37 major aquifers are being depleted faster than they can be replenished, water is transferred from land to the ocean, with large-abstraction of groundwater for irrigation of crops leading to a sea level rise of 0.8 millimeters per year.
The unsustainable use of groundwater is not only excruciating with climate change, but could also exacerbate the pressure from the availability of freshwater by 2030, with demand for freshwater expected to outstrip supply by 40 percent.
The monitoring of groundwater levels, water conservation measures, and the development of alternative water sources could lead to efficient groundwater management, to mitigate the impacts of over-extraction and contamination, which stare at us everyday.
What To Eat
Vegan food from India, Credit, The Plant-based School
The water and big Ag connection is truly insane at this point. Thanks for sharing.