The changing nature of groundwater in the global water cycle

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Kuang, Xingxing, Liu, Junguo, Scanlon, Bridget R., Jiao, Jiu Jimmy, Jasechko, Scott, Lancia, Michele, Biskaborn, Boris K., Wada, Yoshihide, Li, Hailong, Zeng, Zhenzhong, Guo, Zhilin, Yao, Yingying, Gleeson, Tom, Nicot, Jean-Philippe, Luo, Xin, Zou, Yiguang, Zheng, Chunmiao
• Other Authors: Center for Desert Agriculture, Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division, Plant Science, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China., Henan Provincial Key Lab of Hydrosphere and Watershed Water Security, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, China., Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78758, USA., Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China., Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA., Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, 14473 Potsdam Germany., Department of Earth and Environmental Science, School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China., Department of Civil Engineering and School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada., Eastern Institute for Advanced Study, Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo, China.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2024
• Subjects: permafrost
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10754/697570; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf0630

In recent decades, climate change and other anthropogenic activities have substantially affected groundwater systems worldwide. These impacts include changes in groundwater recharge, discharge, flow, storage, and distribution. Climate-induced shifts are evident in altered recharge rates, greater groundwater contribution to streamflow in glacierized catchments, and enhanced groundwater flow in permafrost areas. Direct anthropogenic changes include groundwater withdrawal and injection, regional flow regime modification, water table and storage alterations, and redistribution of embedded groundwater in foods globally. Notably, groundwater extraction contributes to sea level rise, increasing the risk of groundwater inundation in coastal areas. The role of groundwater in the global water cycle is becoming more dynamic and complex. Quantifying these changes is essential to ensure sustainable supply of fresh groundwater resources for people and ecosystems. We thank three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions that have led to significant improvement of this work. This work was supported by the following: National Natural Science Foundation of China grants 92047202 and 91747204 (to X.K.), Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control(2023B1212060002) and Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (D20020) (to C.Z.), Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences grant XDA20060402and Shenzhen Science and Technology Program grant