Groundwater depletion rates in India may triple in coming decades, warns study - Times of India
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NEW DELHI: Farmers in India have adapted to warming temperatures by intensifying the withdrawal of groundwater used for irrigation. If the trend continues, the rate of groundwater loss could triple by 2080, further threatening India's food and water security, a new study led by an Indian-origin researcher has warned. Reduced water availability in India due to groundwater depletion and climate change could threaten the livelihoods of more than one-third of the country's 1.4 billion residents and has global implications, according to the study led by University of Michigan in the US. India is the second-largest global producer of common cereal grains including rice and wheat. "We find that farmers are already increasing irrigation use in response to warming temperatures, an adaptation strategy that has not been accounted for in previous projections of groundwater depletion in India," said senior author Meha Jain, assistant professor at the university...