Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

UnDisciplined: How is climate warming impacting groundwater storage?

water treatment plant with sunrise
tuastockphoto - stock.adobe.com
/
312618634
water treatment plant with sunrise

After two very wet winters, reservoirs across much of the U.S. West are full — and that might lead many people to believe that our water woes are over, at least for now. But that’s not quite right, because the water that we can’t see impacts long-term sustainability just as much, if not more, as the water in our lakes and rivers and reservoirs. Until recently, though, there hasn’t been a great way of assessing groundwater storage, or understanding how climate change is impacting it.

Stay Connected
Matthew LaPlante has reported on ritual infanticide in Northern Africa, insurgent warfare in the Middle East, the legacy of genocide in Southeast Asia, and gang violence in Central America. But a few years back, something donned on him: Maybe the news doesn't have to be brutally depressing all the time. Today, he balances his continuing work on more heartbreaking subjects by writing books about the intersection of science, human health and society, including the New York Times best-selling <i>Lifespan</i> with geneticist David Sinclair and the Nautilus Award-winning <i>Longevity Plan</i> with cardiologist John Day. His first solo book, <i>Superlative</i>, looks at what scientists are learning by studying organisms that have evolved in record-setting ways, and his is currently at work on another book about embracing the inevitability of human-caused climate change with an optimistic outlook on the future.<br/>