Study Shows KS Groundwater Taking On CO2 At Rate 100X That Of Increase In Atmosphere

[hatrack]

Washington, Nov 19 (ANI): A new study has determined that groundwater seems to be taking on carbon dioxide (CO2) 100 times faster than the atmosphere.

According to a report in Discovery News, Gwen MacPherson of the University of Kansas and a team of researchers made this discovery in the groundwater flowing beneath the pristine Konza Prairie in Kansas, US.

From 1991 through 2005, dissolved CO2 levels went up about 20 percent. In the atmosphere, CO2 went up 23 parts per million during that time, MacPherson said. It went up 2,100 ppm in the water, so thats actually quite a lot, she added.

Ocean acidification is a major threat to corals, clams and any shell-forming animals. As pH declines, the water becomes corrosive and eats away at the creatures hard exteriors. Recent experiments designed to test the risks of burying anthropogenic carbon underground have shown that CO2 can turn groundwater into an acid, too.

EDIT

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/groundwater-seems-to-be-taking-on-co2-100-times-faster-than-atmosphere_100120942.html

[benld74]

1. SO THAT"S, what's the matter with Kansas!!!

[zbdent]

4. explains Phelps' Phreaks ...

[ElectricGrid]

6. Nothing is wrong with Kansas.

[BootinUp]

2. Coca Cola may be put out of business someday... nt

[jpak]

3. Elevated ground water CO2 will also accelerate weathering processes that supply the ocean with HCO3-

(bicarbonate).

Unfortunately, we are currently acidifying the ocean and groundwater faster than weathering processes can produce bicarbonate from silicate minerals to buffer the ocean.

Ultimately, weathering processes will reduce anthropogenic atmospheric CO2, but it will take 100,000 years...

[quidam56]

5. Appalachia can't stand anymore...

of Presidebt Bush's progress and prosperity, thanks to THE COAL INDUSTRY Wise County, Virginia is becoming a toxic waste dump, third world America

END MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL http://www.wisecountyissues.com

[Dogmudgeon]

7. That could acidify the groundwater ... quickly

Based on the numbers given -- 20% increase from 1991 to 2005 -- it means the groundwater CO2 levels would double every 50 years or so.

Since atmospheric CO2 is expected to keep increasing for several hundred years even after human activity stops, that's going to allow several doublings, though there is probably some natural limit to the process.

The effect on agriculture should be measurable. We are already in the midst of rapid loss of soil nutrients in runoff. I have been remiss and have not kept up with agriculture reports from around the world, but this can't be good.

I am not optimistic.

--p!