CO2 Seeping Into Water Supply

I don’t want to give you something grave to ponder as you head out for the weekend, but Fridays seem to bring the worst news on climate change. What am I talking about? Well, a couple of recent studies on the CO2 concentrations of groundwater have some pretty frightening implications.

First, a study conducted on the groundwater underneath the Konza Prairie in Kansas found that between 1991 and 2005 CO2 levels increased by 20 percent, or by 2,100 part per million. This is magnitudes more than the 23 ppm of CO2 increase recorded in the atmosphere during the same period which means that carbon dioxide is absorbed at a faster rate by water than by our atmosphere.

Another study, conducted in Montana and funded by the Department of Energy, sought to gather information on the effects of storing carbon underground. The study found that after injecting 660 pounds of CO2 per day into shallow groundwater the concentrations of CO2 soared to between 50 and 60 times the natural level.

The reason these findings are so startling is that as carbon dioxide concentrations increase, the water becomes more acidic. As my last message mentioned, this is already happening to our oceans and it has the potential to destroy corral and shell-forming organisms by eating away at their exteriors. As groundwater becomes more acidic it can leach a number of contaminants from surrounding rock, including heavy metals, benzene and poisonous gases.

The freshwater implications of this phenomenon are enormous and while these studies are by no means conclusive, it should give us pause as we consider carbon sequestration and other methods for mitigating climate change. Then again, with CO2 levels rising more rapidly in groundwater than in the atmosphere, even if we don’t sequester carbon underground the concentrations of CO2 in groundwater rise unless we start reducing our emissions. For more information, click here.