After reading Eric's how long can it go...

RM Anderson said:
Jeff,
I never said that I was good at math...
Some estimates claim that 97% of the world's water is underground. Globally we are using these underground stores faster than they can be replenished by rainfall. When there is excessive ground moisture from rain or melting snow, it is fast tracked to the ocean by drain tile. Minnesota has lost 50- 90% of its wetlands to drainage statewide.
People have not heard of this because global warming is more of a political narrative in my opinion. The real danger is under our feet.
RM

Depleted Aquifers: Causes, Effects, Solutions | Earth.Org

In this article, we delve into the causes and far-reaching effects of low levels in aquifers around the world, while examining the innovative solutions that some nations have embraced to combat this alarming crisis.
earth.org earth.org
Click to expand...
I tried googling on this a bit this morning. I found that 44% of sea level rise figure quoted in several places, but none of them identified the original source. I also found references to a NOAA publication that suggested influence of ground water pumping was pretty small, but didn't provide much data to assess that. The most interesting thing I found was that groundwater pumping--and oil extraction--can result in land subsidence, which contributes locally to relative sea level rise and can be a big problem in dry coastal areas that pump a lot.
 
Groundwater depletion is definitely a world wide issue. And you are correct, it’s not getting the attention it deserves. Shallow aquifers (usually referred to as A-1, 2 & 3) usually have surface recharge areas and most can recharge with normal rainfall.
Deep aquifers take centuries to recharge and we are draining deep aquifers at an unsustainable rate. Once it’s gone, it’s pretty much gone. Digging deeper and deeper is not a solution.
 
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