Carbon Dioxide and Groundwater
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A KU researcher is investigating how exploitation of aquifers by communities, industries and farmers around the world contributes to climate change.
Aired January 28, 2008
2 minutes (2.5 MB) | Download mp3
Transcript
Research shows world use of aquifers could add to the global warming dilemma. From the University of Kansas, this is Research Matters. I'm Brendan Lynch.
The next time you open a soda can, a tiny amount of carbon dioxide will be released. KU researcher Gwen Macpherson looks at this phenomenon on a much larger scale - studying aquifers tapped for groundwater.
Macpherson: "Virtually all groundwater contains carbon dioxide. C02 in groundwater is 10 to 100 times higher than it is in the Earth’s atmosphere. Most of the C02 in groundwater comes from the soil zone. As water passes through the soil on its way to recharging an aquifer, it picks up C02."
Macpherson, an associate professor of geology, says that as more communities and industries extract groundwater worldwide, substantial levels of C-O-2 are discharged into the atmosphere where they add to the greenhouse effect.
Macpherson: "This is a new area of inquiry. I don’t know of anybody who has tried to see how big of an effect it is. There is an increasing amount of carbon dioxide being stored in groundwater. This is a very good thing. It may mean that just like the oceans are soaking up C02 from the atmosphere, groundwater is doing is the same thing."
Macpherson tries to gauge the extent of CO2 released by aquifer exploitation. She says outgassing of groundwater adds eight times more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than the average yearly output from Earth's volcanoes.
Macpherson: "We’re talking about one more piece of the carbon dioxide puzzle. My initial calculations show that it could be a fairly significant amount of carbon dioxide that goes into the atmosphere. It’s nothing like fossil-fuel-generated C02. Nevertheless, every little bit that we put in there adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere."
For more on groundwater and climate change, log on to Research Matters DOT K-U DOT E-D-U. For the University of Kansas, I'm Brendan Lynch.
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KU researcher finds exploitation of aquifers may add to global warming dilemma
LAWRENCE — The next time you open a soda can or bottle of champagne, you’ll release a tiny amount of carbon dioxide into the air. The bubbles that give such beverages their fizz are transferring C02 from the liquid into the atmosphere.
