The water table is dropping all over the world as global drought approaches, NASA warns

Perhaps someone should investigate how much water Nestle and like companies are bottling?

originally posted by: Rezlooper
California isn't the only place experiencing severe drought and the depletion of their water aquafier.

Twenty-one of the world’s 37 largest aquifers — in locations from India and China to the United States and France — have passed their sustainability tipping points, meaning more water is being removed than replaced from these vital underground reservoirs. Thirteen of 37 aquifers fell at rates that put them into the most troubled category.

“The situation is quite critical,” said Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the studies’ principal investigator.

NASA warns water table dropping all over the world

This is bad news because the more droughts were are experiencing, we are also drilling into these reservoirs and taking the water out for our own needs. I sure don't want to see a future where we're paying high dollars for water as another precious resource, but we're already on course for that as we pay for bottled water and a monthly water bill when you live in a city. The only way that these reservoirs replenish themselves is from snow melt and rain, but if these droughts continue like they are, then there's very little replenishment and we continue to use the water. What's the next inevitable step? Water will become like gold, a commodity traded on the NYSE.

And it’s difficult to see it getting better soon. These groundwater reserves take thousands of years to accumulate and only slowly recharge with water from snowmelt and rains. Now, as drilling for water has taken off across the globe, the hidden water reservoirs are being stressed. Underground aquifers supply 35 percent of the water used by humans worldwide. Demand is even greater in times of drought. Rain-starved California is currently tapping aquifers for 60 percent of its water use, up from the usual 40 percent.

And the next step....

We'll be fighting wars, invading other countries...for water!

In another finding from the studies led by the University of California Irvine, scientists say that some of these aquifers may be much smaller than previously thought. Only a few of the aquifers have been mapped in detail and most estimates of aquifer water reserves have “uncertainty ranges across orders of magnitude,” according to the studies.

They say that some of these aquifers may be smaller than they thought which is even more dire, but since they haven't been entirely mapped, let's hope they are wrong about some of them being as small as they thought as well and maybe some of them are much bigger. We can only hope, right?

They are missing Arizona on here. The water table has dropped something like 100 feet due to agriculture over the past century.

originally posted by: Rezlooper
One of the positives in this in regards to global warming is that while it may be creating these extreme heat waves and droughts it's also responsible for massive rain events as we've seen lately. The warming of the planet creates more moisture and this will cause more heavy rain events in other parts of the world that aren't experiencing drought. Or massive relief to a drought like what we've seen in Texas.

Yeah, but one of the side effects of climate change is extreme weather events, including both extreme rain in some areas and lack of rain others. So that rain may not come to areas like California, whereas it did more so in the past.

Thanks NASA! This just comfirms what I've been saying all along which is tightly woven with another subject which for the sake of this thread i won't mention it here..

But yeah, i've (or some of us) have know this for perhaps since 2009-> which leads to think they know a hell of alot more than they're allowing to be released.

*adjusting my tin foil hat firmly in the face of the naysayers*

What is ironic although not really pertaining to this subject, is that all other times, people are quite ready to attack NASA for.. just about anything. But when they produce something that is of interest, nothing is said. Double standards.. gotta love it.

a reply to: Rezlooper

dnr.mo.gov...

Doubtful Missouri will ever have this problem. they mostly pump surface water from the lakes. when the closest cities get low, but we are surrounded by lakes..extremely deep ones, Like Table rock Lake

originally posted by: Rezlooper

originally posted by: ThaEnigma
a reply to: Rezlooper

How advanced are we as a species if we can't harvest a resource that covers a damn near 70% of our planet..?!

But that's not fresh water.

This is the true problem, the salt water must be reduced dramatically, it is indeed the most UNNATURAL thing on this planet, and has changed ALOT.

originally posted by: Quetzalcoatl14

originally posted by: Rezlooper
One of the positives in this in regards to global warming is that while it may be creating these extreme heat waves and droughts it's also responsible for massive rain events as we've seen lately. The warming of the planet creates more moisture and this will cause more heavy rain events in other parts of the world that aren't experiencing drought. Or massive relief to a drought like what we've seen in Texas.

Yeah, but one of the side effects of climate change is extreme weather events, including both extreme rain in some areas and lack of rain others. So that rain may not come to areas like California, whereas it did more so in the past.

You just never know where it's going to come. Cali doesn't get a lot of rain to begin with. Texas on the other hand has more rain but they were in a drought to before this spring's torrential rains and tropical storm Bill right after that.

Has anyone thought about the geologic implications of this over usage trend. For example more earthquakes with higher magnitudes more often. I myself am baffled by the arrogance of for profit companies destroying ecosystems at the whim of monetary gain. Specifically poisoning the Ocean (dead zones ect...) which is the very back bone of the air and atmosphere and is interconnected with the magnetosphere (again potentially causing major earthquakes and unprecedented unnatural disasters) Am I the only one living on this planet who gets the concept of equilibrium and the implications of f-ing with life itself???? Sometimes I wonder... My rant brings to mind the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" which from what I've been told is based on then current climatology models. When will the citizens of this planet listen to the trained officials that they pay for...when the emergency broadcast system goes off globally and its too dam late??? When??

originally posted by: Rezlooper

originally posted by: Quetzalcoatl14

originally posted by: Rezlooper
One of the positives in this in regards to global warming is that while it may be creating these extreme heat waves and droughts it's also responsible for massive rain events as we've seen lately. The warming of the planet creates more moisture and this will cause more heavy rain events in other parts of the world that aren't experiencing drought. Or massive relief to a drought like what we've seen in Texas.

Yeah, but one of the side effects of climate change is extreme weather events, including both extreme rain in some areas and lack of rain others. So that rain may not come to areas like California, whereas it did more so in the past.

You just never know where it's going to come. Cali doesn't get a lot of rain to begin with. Texas on the other hand has more rain but they were in a drought to before this spring's torrential rains and tropical storm Bill right after that.

Right, I can tell you that Cali would be overjoyed to have some serious downpour right now. That's my home state. It's getting pretty dire.

And even sources where they produce bottled water can't be trusted. I wonder if the water table drop is affecting quality. In fact, there was a big recall in my neck of the woods here in the NE.

"Pa. bottling company recalls bottled water due to possible E. coli contamination"
6abc.com...

originally posted by: ICDragonfly
Has anyone thought about the geologic implications of this over usage trend. For example more earthquakes

with higher magnitudes more often. I myself am baffled by the arrogance of for profit companies destroying ecosystems at the whim of monetary gain. Specifically poisoning the Ocean (dead zones ect...) which is the very back bone of the air and atmosphere and is interconnected with the magnetosphere (again potentially causing major earthquakes

and unprecedented unnatural disasters) Am I the only one living on this planet who gets the concept of equilibrium and the implications of f-ing with life itself????

Sometimes I wonder... My rant brings to mind the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" which from what I've been told is based on then current climatology models. When will the citizens of this planet listen to the trained officials that they pay for...when the emergency broadcast system goes off globally and its too dam late??? When??

We're pulling all the water from underground, we're pulling all the oil and gas from underground. It has to have some effect on the geology. As we mentioned earlier in this thread, it could have a lot to do with the sinkholes increasing all over the place too. You are not the only one on this planet who gets the concept. I am one who believes we may have already passed the tipping point!

originally posted by: UnBreakable
And even sources where they produce bottled water can't be trusted. I wonder if the water table drop is affecting quality. In fact, there was a big recall in my neck of the woods here in the NE.

"Pa. bottling company recalls bottled water due to possible E. coli contamination"
6abc.com...

And PA has a lot of issues going on right now. They have major sinkholes opening up. I wrote in the thread with the methane gas bubbling up in the golf course pond about how ancient methane gas disturbed by fracking (which is big in PA) is migrating up to the water table there in your state and contaminating the water supply. There are many other issues in PA and I believe a lot of it has to do with fracking...I wish you people the best there.

Maybe they can start fracking for water, surely people wont care about the chemicals, LOL Joking. I feel as though the last few generations of humans have taken Earths resources for granted, thinking only in the now, and not planning for the future. Its time humanity stops thinking that earth has unlimited resources, because earth doesnt. All of humanity is reaching a tipping point, with food, fuel, now water. If the nations of the world dont stop raping this beautiful planet of all its resources, then we are setting ourselves up for extinction. An Australian scientist said just the other day, that humans may only have a century left before extinction. He was looking at the growing population, the amount of food produced, drought, etc..... I while I think it will be longer than a century, there will come a day when earth cannot support all of its inhabitants. I feel sorry for my children who will have to deal with the problems caused by past generations. Im optimistic though, and believe that our children and there children will conquer the problems we made for them.

All water ends up back to earth including bottled water, or pool water or... think about it
With so much rain last winter is hard to visualize drought happening,
Anyway in some places of the world the may indeed experience it.

The water can't escape into space, droughts somewhere means rains somewhere else...
Nature always finds a balance
We also have the technology to make oceans drinkable water, where it's needed
While in some other places natural sources are fulled with winter rains.

I really don't see a problem, unless the elite want to control water resources, like they did with all other resources,
and thus spitting this propaganda out....
If that's the case there might be a day that water will be more expensive than gas is right now

a reply to: Rezlooper

((Said tongue in cheek)), however,,
Surely the billionaires who throws million$ into corrupt sporting pursuits like European Soccer (for eg) have the fund$$ to invest in desalination research and tech... Why is this a problem, when the money to fix sh*t is obtainable...??

originally posted by: ThaEnigma
a reply to: Rezlooper

((Said tongue in cheek)), however,,
Surely the billionaires who throws million$ into corrupt sporting pursuits like European Soccer (for eg) have the fund$$ to invest in desalination research and tech... Why is this a problem, when the money to fix sh*t is obtainable...??

Here is an article about what the Middle East is doing, an area low in water.

Desalination plants have evolved rapidly during the last two decades to extract fresh water from the sea. Currently, approximately 150 countries rely on desalination to meet their fresh water requirements. Globally, around 80 million m3 of potable water is being produced daily by more than 17,000 desalination plants and of these, 50% are utilizing sea water as the source1.

While most countries in the Middle East are rich in fossil energy resources, water is a rare commodity in the region2 3. According to the AQUASTAT report published in 2005, 4.4% of the world’s population inhabit the Middle East, but it only receives 1.1% of the global renewable water resources4.


Developing efficient technologies and scalable infrastructure to meet potable water demands is, therefore, among the chief priorities of local governments. Desalination of the brackish water from the Arabian Sea and the Gulf Sea is an obvious solution to the problem and focus of R&D in the Middle East and 70% of the world’s desalination plants are located in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia alone is producing 20% of the world’s desalinated water.

There are two well-developed desalination technologies: thermal desalination and reverse osmosis (RO) desalination. Both are being used in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia running the world’s largest thermal desalination plant, producing (640,000 m3 per day).

Since the 1960’s, water authorities in the Middle East have been using thermal desalination as the major process to produce potable water. However, the high-energy demands of thermal desalination have shifted the focus to less energy intensive desalination technologies such as RO.

The future of desalination research in the Middle East

Some good information in that article about some future technologies being worked on as well.

originally posted by: Rezlooper

originally posted by: UnBreakable
And even sources where they produce bottled water can't be trusted. I wonder if the water table drop is affecting quality. In fact, there was a big recall in my neck of the woods here in the NE.

"Pa. bottling company recalls bottled water due to possible E. coli contamination"
6abc.com...

And PA has a lot of issues going on right now. They have major sinkholes opening up. I wrote in the thread with the methane gas bubbling up in the golf course pond about how ancient methane gas disturbed by fracking (which is big in PA) is migrating up to the water table there in your state and contaminating the water supply. There are many other issues in PA and I believe a lot of it has to do with fracking...I wish you people the best there.

Hopefully the fracking situation improves here in PA. Whereas Gov. Corbett had given the frackers a tax-free free ride, Gov. Wolf plans to tax, maybe that will curtail some drilling. But unfortunately here in PA the fracking continues unabated and is no doubt causing the issues you stated, slowly polluting once pristine water supplies.

They make windmills that take water from the air. Why don't they just use those?

originally posted by: chrisss
They make windmills that take water from the air. Why don't they just use those?

There is water in the air but there's not a whole lot and the output is low. If you've ever built a solar still you should understand the concept. For that matter, solar stills are largely considered impractical because you spend more water than you get back creating them (unless you use them for a long time). This concept applies to machinery too, a lot of water and energy gets consumed in making a farm of stills when that same effort could more efficiently be put into other solutions like desalination.

Edit: Just looked, fresh water makes up only 2% of the water on the planet and atmospheric water makes up 0.04% of that fresh water supply. Even if we could efficiently extract water using this method you're talking about a drop in the ocean.