Burleigh McCoy

So a couple of researchers spent years gathering all of the aquifer data they could find on close to 1,700 aquifers around the world.

And they compiled it into one scientific paper that was published in 2024.

1,700 aquifers.

That's a lot.

It was.

And they estimated that that's three-fourths of all the land being tapped for groundwater.

And the data basically comes from monitoring wells that people monitor the water level of.

And the study team found that in about a third of the aquifer systems they looked at, groundwater levels are going down.

Wow.

And what does that mean for life on Earth?

Yeah, that can definitely happen.

It's a huge issue if that's where your drinking water comes from.

Plus, less water in an aquifer can mean the loss of wetland habitat.

And in some places, draining an aquifer can cause the land to actually sink.

It's called subsidence.

And over time, it also means that you can't recharge that aquifer.

So fill the aquifer back up.

Yeah, if the aquifer is by a coast and it gets really low, saltwater can flow in and then contaminate the freshwater in that aquifer.

So on average, more than about four inches per year, which imagine if you have a well, that can eventually be catastrophic.

And so a third of those aquifers are losing more than about 20 inches per year.