While it is already well-known that elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere can seriously impact upon air, weather and vegetation, one US scientist is now taking a look at what could happen underground.
A study conducted by Agricultural Research Service scientist Tim Green, who works as a hydrologist in the agency’s Agricultural Systems Research Unit, found that if atmospheric CO2 levels double within this century as is widely predicted, some areas could experience large increases in the rate of groundwater recharge, the process by which water filters through the soil and enters acquifers.
Green investigated how climate change impacts groundwater and the vadose zone, the region between soil surface and water table.
Scientists on the project developed a method for simulating the effects of elevated CO2 on plants, groundwater and the vadose zone. They then applied it on two locations in Australia - one subtropical and one Mediterranean, finding that the Mediterranean location responded more to temperature changes, whereas the subtropical climate was more influenced by the frequency and volume of precipitation.
In both locations, changes caused to soil, precipitation and plant transpiration by simulated climates with twice the existing CO2 led to significant changes to the rate of groundwater recharge.
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