The following post summarizes the article “77% of Coastal Areas Threatened by Saltwater Intrusion – Are We Ready?” by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL) and published in SciTechDaily online.
“Watersheds on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard will be among the areas most affected by underground saltwater intrusion by the year 2100 due to sea level rise and changes in groundwater supplies, according to a NASA-DOD study.” A study by researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California predicts that by 2100, seawater will penetrate underground freshwater reserves in approximately 75% of global coastal regions. This intrusion could render the water in numerous coastal aquifers undrinkable and unsuitable for agricultural uses, threatening ecosystems and causing infrastructure corrosion.
This phenomenon, termed saltwater intrusion, takes place beneath coastlines where freshwater and seawater naturally converge and balance each other. Rainfall on land replenishes coastal aquifers — subterranean layers of rock and soil that store freshwater — which typically flow toward the ocean. Meanwhile, seawater, driven by oceanic pressure, moves inland. The transition zone where these waters meet experiences some mixing, but generally, the balance of these opposing forces maintains freshwater on one side and saltwater on the other.
Currently, two effects of climate change are skewing this equilibrium towards saltwater. Accelerated by global warming, rising sea levels are pushing coastlines inland and amplifying the pressure driving saltwater inland. Concurrently, diminished groundwater recharge — resulting from decreased rainfall and altered weather patterns — reduces the force that moves underground freshwater in certain regions. “Coastal aquifers around the globe face an escalating threat of saltwater intrusion by 2100, driven by rising sea levels and reduced groundwater recharge due to climate change.”
(Reference: “Climate-Induced Saltwater Intrusion in 2100: Recharge-Driven Severity, Sea Level-Driven Prevalence” by Kyra H. Adams, J. T. Reager, Brett A. Buzzanga, Cédric H. David, Audrey H. Sawyer and Benjamin D. Hamlington, 22 November 2024, Geophysical Research Letters. DOI: 10.1029/2024GL110359.)
(Source: https://scitechdaily.com/77-of-coastal-areas-threatened-by-saltwater-intrusion-are-we-ready)
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