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The Effects of Climate Change and Nitrate Pollution

 By: Odalys Espinoza

 Climate change has been a worldwide problem for decades that has affected water resources and hydrogeological systems. Consequently, nitrate has been taken as a paradigmatic pollutant to demonstrate the result of climate change on the quality of our groundwaters. Multiple methods have been dedicated to restore agricultural practices and examine the biogeochemical processes involved when identifying denitrification rates and throughout aquifer clean-up that essentially gets rid of nitrate from groundwater as well as restores the polluted groundwater that has been withdrawn from the aquifer. In the face of rising nitrate concentrations in the subsurface, dilution has been a vital process that has been utilized in aquifers to reduce nitrate concentration. In this particular instance, aquifers in Catalonia have been analyzed to determine the effects of climate change on nitrate concentrations for a western Mediterranean climatic setting. Based on the current nitrate groundwater concentrations, it is inevitable that the overall content will reach an approximate nitrogen magnitude that could even out the effect of diminishing recharge.  Through this research, it has been determined that by placing a control in nitrogen input concentrations that originated from fertilization, will be aid in management strategies for alluvial and fluviodeltaic aquifers. The trade-offs of this procedure include: (1) preventing the environmental deterioration of groundwater bodies and linked ecosystems and (2) large amounts of money. Environmental preservation is crucial to conserve nitrogen assimilation rates.

 

The development of nitrate concentration in the aquifer in the basis of the mass balance model for the different aquifers used in this study under distinct future hydrogeological conditions; present, 2050, and a linearly variation of recharge rates.

 

Reference

Mas-Pla J., and A. Mencio. 2018. Groundwater nitrate pollution and climate change: learnings from a water balance-based analysis of several aquifers in a western Mediterranean region (Catalonia). Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 26:2184-2202.

 


Comments

  1. M MendezOctober 21, 2020 at 5:55 PM

    It's interesting to relate the nitrate concentration to water recharge. By addressing the fertilizer input, this could make a huge difference in promoting environmental sustainability.

    ReplyDelete

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