A new study found that the ocean floors around the world have vast amounts of freshwater reserves beneath them. Researchers believe that these can be used when freshwater shortage begins.
Researchers from Flinders University, Australia led by Vincent Post estimated that there is about 12,000 cubic miles, or 500,000 cubic kilometers, of freshwater hiding on the ocean floors of Australia, China, South America and North America. They discovered this after doing “high-resolution samplings” in the areas.
"The volume of this water resource is a hundred times greater than the amount we've extracted from the Earth's sub-surface in the past century since 1900," Post told AFP.
They believe that these freshwater reserves have been sitting on the ocean floors since hundreds of years ago deposited by the rainfalls and melted ice from the polar region.
The biggest reserves are found in New Jersey’s ocean floor which has about 17 trillion gallons of it in Cohansey Aquifer and Pinelands National Reserve. The state will benefit significantly in the future when water runs out.
“The best-documented example of an offshore palaeo-groundwater body is the vast occurrence of low-salinity water extending below the continental shelf of New Jersey,” Post wrote.
The researchers mentioned that Earth’s freshwater is depleting rapidly and soon, countries will need to tap on the freshwater reserves scattered around the globe. Having one inside their grounds, like New Jersey, will minimize the impact of water shortage when drought begins.
Over 40 percent of the world is already experiencing drought or water shortage and this will increase by seven percent by 2030, according to the United Nations prediction. Water use has doubled for the past century especially from agriculture and meat production sectors.
The challenge now is the extraction of these freshwater reserves which they compared to an oil drilling process. It is an expensive and careful process to ensure the water won’t be contaminated.
The study was published in the Dec. 5 issue of Nature.
