by Swamini Khurana Air pollution in India, particularly in north India, is a long-standing problem (1,2) with reportedly 63% of Indians living in areas exceeding the WHO guidelines for PM2.5 levels of 40 µg/m3. This makes India one of the most polluted countries in the world (typically among the worst 5 countries over the past …[Read More]
Cultural Impacts
Groundwater: a sensitive but powerful tool
Guest contribution by Dr. Rosario Sanchez Flores, TAMU Yes, water is a delicate resource. You can barely hold it in your hand, but you can certainly feel it within your fingers; your skin; your nervous system. It has the power to change the energy of our body. It is as natural as magic. We convince …[Read More]
Urban Groundwater II: Heading for the coast
by Margaret Shanafield (Flinders University), Ana Manero (Australian National University), Sally Thompson (University of Western Australia), and Greg Claydon Few urban home buyers are picking their dream home based on depth to groundwater. Yet that water level can play an important role in the quality of life in their new home. Typically, it is only …[Read More]
Visualizing the invisible through art
authored by Grant Ferguson Groundwater is often thought of as out of sight out of mind and has even been accused of being not photogenic. The typical visualization tools used by hydrogeologists include maps, cross-sections and graphs. These can be effective, especially amongst ourselves, but it is difficult to invoke the sort of emotional response …[Read More]
How to add environmental justice into your groundwater classes
By Tom Gleeson, Chinchu Mohan, Summer Okibe, Noella Horoscoe, Xander Huggins, Crystal Ng and Ally Jacoby Along with the Water Underground Talks (webpage, youtube, blog post) that bring passionate and diverse voices and perspectives into groundwater classrooms, we have also been developing new materials to add environmental justice into your groundwater classes. The US EPA …[Read More]
Call for nominations for Water Underground Talks Season 2
Water Underground Talks elevates diverse voices, perspectives and groundwater research. In Season 1, eleven hydrogeologists from around the world shared their passions and exciting research on the connections between groundwater, climate, food and people. Season 2 will build on the success of Season 1 by releasing ~10 more videos that further elevate diverse voices, perspectives …[Read More]
Should the pandemic change what we ‘do’ as sustainability scientists?
By: Viviana Re and Tom Gleeson he world will likely never be the same again after the covid-19 pandemic – too much has changed for us personally, socially and culturally. The pandemic is a terrible tragedy that continues to devastate lives and economies while ironically also bearing the possibility of being a much needed global …[Read More]
underground social solidarity: our #PandemicPlaylist
In our last post, the WaterUnderground community shared our roses, buds, and thorns of our current situations amid the coronavirus pandemic and a picture of our #StayAtHomeAndStaySafe view. As promised, in this post we’re sharing the next installment of this solidarity-building exercise of ours: our ‘pandemic playlist’. Each of the contributors from last post have …[Read More]
underground social solidarity: rose, thorns and buds in the COVID-19 pandemic
Well, the world is certainly in a crazy time – one of the most enlightening tweets that I keep thinking about is: In a longer article, Klein asks a crucial question: can social solidarity replicate faster than the virus? So to encourage social solidarity in our dispersed global community of groundwater nerds, I suggested we …[Read More]
Groundwater pumping poses worldwide threat to riverine ecosystems
Post by Inge de Graaf, Assistant Professor of Hydrological Environmental Systems at the University of Freiburg. With the climate strikes happening all over the world, I sometimes wish I had a crystal ball that would allow me to look into the future. Or even better, a crystal ball that could show me different scenarios of …[Read More]