Ground water recharge affected by climate change
There could be a serious setback to the ecological protection measures if the levels of carbon dioxide continue to rise at the rate it is currently. The carbon dioxide increase can adversely affect the weather, air and vegetation, that are common knowledge, but now another graver problem is coming to the fore, the increase in the CO2 levels can also affect the underground water recharge.
Many models are predicting the levels of CO2 to be double in this century and now according to the latest releases, the scientists are predicting an increase in the recharge levels of the groundwater i.e. an increase in the process by which the water gets filtered through the soil and then enters the aquifers.
The rate of the filtration of water through the vadose zone as it is called is dependent on the way the way the water, soil and the plants systems are interaction amongst themselves. The increase in temperature brought on by the increase in the levels of CO2 increase the rate at which this process happens.
The effects of CO2 on the vadose zone and on the interaction between plants and groundwater were simulated by the scientists and then further applied to two locations in Australia, where the temperature is subtropical and the other in the area where the temperature is milder and is of a more Mediterranean touch. The findings were that the Mediterranean area was more responsive to the temperature changes, while the subtropical area had more influence on the volume and frequency of precipitation.
In both locations however, the recharge rate of groundwater was significantly enhanced, from 74 to 500 percent faster for the subtropical climate and from 34 percent slower to 119 percent faster in the Mediterranean climate.
it is still to be known whether the process is beneficial or harmful to the ecology.
