image: This image shows road salt in the Washington DC metro area, which can be transported in urban runoff to rivers and drinking water sources. view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Joseph Galella (University of Maryland, College Park, MD).
A study exploring freshwater salinization finds that changes in salinization and alkalinization have respectively affected 37% and 90% of the drainage area of the contiguous United States over the past century, and that out of 232 United States Geological Survey monitoring sites, 66% of stream and river sites showed a statistical increase in pH; increased freshwater salinization is driven by three major sources, namely accelerated weathering, human salt inputs from developed landscapes, and increased biological alkalinization, according to the authors.
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Article #17-11234: "Freshwater salinization syndrome on a continental scale," by Sujay S. Kaushal et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sujay S. Kaushal, University of Maryland, College Park, MD; e-mail: <skaushal@umd.edu>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences