Seawater will infiltrate underground freshwater supplies in about three of every four coastal areas around the world by 2100, according to a new study led by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
In addition to making water in some coastal aquifers undrinkable and unusable for irrigation, these changes could harm ecosystems and corrode infrastructure, JPL said in a release on Thursday.
Pipes lay across the Mississippi River as the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers moves silt onto an underwater sill at the bottom of the Mississippi River to help slow the flow of a saltwater intrusion in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, the U.S., October 9, 2023. /CFP
Currently, two impacts of climate change are tipping the scales in favor of salt water. Spurred by planetary warming, rising sea levels are causing coastlines to migrate inland and increasing the force pushing salt water landward, according to the study.
At the same time, slower groundwater recharge, due to less rainfall and warmer weather patterns, is weakening the force moving the underground freshwater in some areas, the study suggests.