Welcome to our New Video where we cover unique and interesting stories for you in this episode we will discuss a study predicting Earth's groundwater may become undrinkable for half a billion people by 2100 nearly one out of four people depend on groundwater which is pumped from below the surface of the Earth for survival since they lack access to streams dams and freshwater lakes however by the end of this Century tens to hundreds of millions are likely to be deprived of this groundwater as rising temperatures are likely to make it toxic and undrinkable the findings were based on the global scale model of heat transport developed by an international team of researchers to measure how the temperature would change in groundwater sources across the world under different warming conditions according to this study around 590 million people are likely to rely on water sources which may not meet the strictest standards for potable water till 2100 a lot of focus on climate change has rightfully been to do with weather events and the availability of water said hydrologist Dylan Irvine from Charles Darwin University in Australia as quoted by science alert he added but we do need to think more broadly about the Imp impact that climate change will have on groundwater the warming of groundwater and its catastrophic consequences have been ignored for years the water trapped within porous rocks can be filled with dissolved minerals pollutants and potential pathogens if this water is heated by a degree or two it can take away oxygen from the environment and lead to the growth of dangerous bacteria it can also cause the dissolution of excessive con concentrations of heavy metals like manganese or arsenic a geoscientist at the Carl's ruer Institute of Technology in Germany and the studies's lead author Suzanne Ben said there are already about 30 million people living in regions where the groundwater is warmer than stipulated in the strictest drinking water guidelines he added that means it may not be safe to drink the water there without treatment it may need to be boiled first for example the drinking water also gets warmed up in water pipes by heat in the ground even in populations which have sufficiently sized surface reservoirs the heated groundwater's discharges can cause an alteration of key Dynamics which keep its water safe for human consumption in the wake of the shared socioeconomic pathway the current figures can double with 188 million people living in an area in which the groundwater is not meeting the strictest of standards for drinkability by 2100 that's all from this podcast thanks for tuning in if you enjoyed this episode be sure to subscribe and share your thoughts in the comments stay connected for more exciting discussions and updates in our next video