Groundwater storage trends for Earth's 37 largest aquifers from UCI-led study using NASA GRACE data (2003 - 2013). (Photo : UC Irvine/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Scientists have discovered that groundwater basins around the world are now running out of fresh water due to human consumption.
According to two new studies under the University of California, Irving, one third of the planet's largest groundwater basins are rapidly running out of water supply since they are in distress where this data is obtained from NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites.
Researchers also reveal that the development of human civilizations across the planet is depleting the water from the groundwater basins however, there is no exact estimate of how much water is left in these basins. To date, certain concentrations of mass populations are consuming and depleting water in an unprecedented rate without any knowledge of how much remains or until when this water supply will last.
Apparently, the Arabian Aquifer System which is a pivotal water source form more than 60 million people, is also the most overstressed groundwater basin in the world where it is quickly running out without any signs of replenishing.
The second overstressed basin is called the Indus Basin that is located in northwestern India and Pakistan and the third suffering basin is the Murzuk-Djado Basin found in north Africa.
According to principal investigator Jay Famiglietti who is the head water scientist of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, humans are quickly consuming the world's groundwater reserves where this calls for a global effort in order to determine the remaining water left on the planet.
These studies also mark the first to utilize readings and data from space with NASA's twin GRACE satellites that were able to measure groundwater losses and dips in Earth's gravity that are greatly affected by the weight of the water.
During the course of these two studies, researchers have examined 37 of the world's largest aquifers during 2003 to 2013. The eight overstressed basins were already classified and considered to not receive any natural replenishment that will replace the water consumed.
There were also five aquifers in trouble that are considered by scientists to be extremely or highly stressed since their levels of water replenishment still varies.
Scientists have now concluded that the total volume of water remaining in the world's aquifers that is fit to be used by humans is still unknown but with little estimates that are obtained from obsolete data decades ago.
These studies are published in the journal, Water Resources Research.
