Water withdrawal, depletion, demand: the World's Wells are in Trouble

As groundwater use increases

Groundwater depletion, Credit, Telegraph India

Groundwater worldwide shows depletion, and the New York Times  last week added something new to the debate, this time about the United States, where forty percent of more than eighty five thousand wells hit an all-time low in recent decades, with more wells since 1940 having seen their levels fall rather than increase.

In Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, the accelerated rate of groundwater depletion remains the story, with India for instance only having four percent of the world's freshwater sources, even though the country serves as home to 17.6 percent of the world's population.

Africa's aquifers  contain a volume of groundwater estimated at 0.66 million square kilometers, more than 100 times the annual renewable freshwater sources in dams and rivers, but certain areas over-pump their groundwater, such as Cape Town and Nairobi, where residents drill hundreds of well points, the water level diminishing in many places as a consequence.

In Africa, South America, and the United States, the same story of water overuse prevails, as millions of wells run the risk of becoming dry if groundwater levels decline by only a few meters, a frightening scenario, because one analysis of construction records of more than 39 million wells showed that six to 20 percent of wells are no more than five meters deeper than the water table.

Nine years ago, India withdrew over 760 billion cubic meters from the groundwater per year, the largest freshwater withdrawal in the world, followed closely by China, which drained just over 600 billion cubic meters, and the United States at around 480-90 billion cubic meters, all of them showing increases from the year before.

Some countries in South Asia, Africa, and Latin America used more than 90 percent of water withdrawal for the purpose of agriculture, with Sudan withdrawing 96 percent of its groundwater, while Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South Korea irrigating more than half of their land for the same reason.

The United States withdrew 300 billion cubic meters of water in 2015 for industrial purposes, while China occupied the second position at 140 billion square meters, with most countries across North America, Europe, and East Asia withdrawing more than one billion square meters from the groundwater.

With diverse nations taking so much from their groundwater, it comes as no surprise that millions of wells face the risk of running out of water, and if agricultural and industrial practices contribute to an increasing demand for water during the next 20 years, global water use  could increase by 30 to 50 percent above current levels by 2050, creating more pressure on ground water.

Though the annual rate of increase of deforestation levelled since 2020, the world lost 470 million hectares of forests between 1990 and 2022, meaning the annual rate of deforestation remains high, needing a 10 percent annual reduction to halt deforestation by 2030.

The annual amount of carbon dioxide released into the earth's atmosphere through deforestation persisted at a frightening state, because every year approximately 4.8 billion tons of carbon emissions take place, worsening the current climate change crisis.

In 2022, the rate of carbon emissions stayed at a disturbing situation, and with the present trend continuing, temperatures could rise as much as 4.4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

This shows the importance of groundwater in the current climate change crisis, as it played a huge role at increasing the rate of deforestation though incessant use, while the frightening rate of deforestation accelerated carbon emissions, which in turn led to criminally high temperatures, a factor that sped up the consequences of climate change.

Experts call for the reduction of groundwater. Or the recycling of groundwater. Or its reuse. Through the reduction or reuse or the recycling of groundwater, the rate of deforestation can be slowed, leading to a cut back in carbon emissions, one of the best ways of reversing the speed of climate change.

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