Dear MEL
Topic Readers,
As
Groundwater Dwindles, a Global Food Shock Looms
Pumping
groundwater sounds local but it is in fact a global issue. Surprisingly, much
of the crops are produced in places where not enough surface water is available
for farming, such as India, Pakistan, southern Europe, and the western United
States. Farmer in such regions pump underground water at a pace fast enough to
meet the demand for increasing world population, which is estimated to reach nine
billion in sometime in the 2040s from seven billion in 2011.
The
water those farmers are pumping up from is underground reservoirs called aquifers.
They are created by water seeping down through the ground from rain, snow or
streams.
So just
like oil, the supply is not limitless, and if more water is pumped than
recharges, the reservoir is going to be depleted. Then food supply drops and
prices hike, not only in the region but to the world. Sounds like the same
mechanism as global warming, doesn’t it?
Enjoy reading
and learning what aquifers do to fill the world stomach.
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