Sustaining Groundwater Resources: A Critical Element in the Global Water Crisis

ISBN-13: 9789048134250 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 228 str.

J. Anthony A. Jones

Opis

One of the Springer volumes commemorating the International Year of Planet Earth, this book covers central issues related to groundwater, such as pollution and falling water tables, and assesses the state of the art in groundwater science and exploration.

Spis treści

Groundwater in Peril

Groundwater and Health: Meeting Unmet Needs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Karst, Uranium, Gold and Water – Lessons from South Africa for Reconciling Mining Activities and Sustainable Water Use in Semi-arid Karst Areas: A Case Study

Arsenic Distribution and Geochemistry in Island Groundwater of the Okavango Delta in Botswana

Sustainability of Groundwater Resources in the North China Plain

Groundwater Management in a Land Subsidence Area

Climate Change and Groundwater

Linking Runoff to Groundwater in Permafrost Terrain

Geography of the World’s Groundwater: A Hierarchical Approach to Scale-Dependent Zoning

WHYMAP and the Groundwater Resources Map of the World 1:25,000,000

Overview of a Multifaceted Research Program in Bénin, West Africa: An International Year of Planet Earth Groundwater Project

Groundwater Artificial Recharge Solutions for Integrated Management of Watersheds and Aquifer Systems Under Extreme Drought Scenarios

Groundwater in the 21st Century – Meeting the Challenges

Index

Blurb

Burgeoning population and climate change are among the most critical challenges facing the 21st century. Both have critical implications for groundwater resources, especially in many developing countries where resources are already under pressure. Due to low rainfall and high evaporation in parts of the Middle East and North Africa, groundwater is not being renewed, and groundwater laid down up to 10,000 years ago is literally being mined for irrigation, often very inefficiently. Over recent decades, groundwater levels have fallen dramatically in key grain-growing regions like the American Great Plains and the North China Plain. As the population grows and emerging economies like China and India demand more food, especially water intensive meat products, agricultural demand for water is set to increase. The rapid shift of population from the countryside to the cities is also adding to this pressure; most old wells in Beijing are now dry. Pollution from industry, agriculture and shanty towns is destroying many groundwater resources; some could take 50 years to clean up even with strict and immediate controls.

This volume looks at the technical, socio-economic and political problems being faced, and at the developments in groundwater science and management that may help create a sustainable future for our planet.