A balance is naturally maintained between rates of groundwater recharge and discharge, and the amount of water stored underground. To investigate this, we mapped the connection between groundwater and the land surface and how groundwater response time varies across the world. The long memory of groundwaterWe found that below approximately three quarters of the Earth’s surface, groundwater response times last over 100 years. Despite both being in the UK and existing in the same climate, they have distinctly different hydraulic properties and, therefore, groundwater response times. Groundwater response times may be much longer than human lifetimes, let alone political and electoral cycles.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 14, 2019 17:58 UTC