Human Impact on Groundwater Environment

Dear Colleagues,

This Topic aims to gather novel and innovative works of general interest for the broad audience of the journal related to the environmental implications of ever-growing human activities, with a particular emphasis on the changes these are inducing on groundwater. Global demand for water is projected to outstrip supply by 40% in 2030 and 55% in 2050 as a result of climate change, a rising population, economic growth, rapid urbanization, and increased water–energy–food nexus pressures. Humans are thus now facing the critical challenge of preserving our groundwater resources from biological and chemical contamination induced by its own point and diffuse sources. Addressing this challenge will require a holistic system approach by addressing new issues and emerging contaminants, as well as multiple embedded exposures to ultimately be able to achieve a comprehensive environmental and human health risk assessment.

Consequently, the contributions to this Topic will encompass a broad spectrum of topics in human impact on groundwater resources, including but not limited to: Emerging topics dealing with water resource vulnerability and human impact, including emerging and chemical contaminants; Advances in analytical techniques to monitor and identify sources and processes controlling the budget of human contaminants in water resources; Advances in hydrological processes and hydrodynamic models for investigating water vulnerability to human impact; Analysis of urban growth consequences for water resources and water management; Remote sensing applications for water vulnerability assessment; Linkage between water vulnerability, scarcity, security, and sustainability.

In this Topic, we aim to fill gaps on the application of hydrochemistry (including measurements of radioactive and stable isotope ratios, nutrients, trace elements, and organic components) on environmental research by asking for manuscripts which constitute original contributions on studies developing applications in hydrogeology, nutrient balances, pollution, environmental changes, as well as modeling or empirical studies aimed at improving our mechanistic understanding of short- and long-term chemical variations in global hydrological systems. The submission of inter- and multidisciplinary original research and review papers is particularly encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Zongjun Gao
Dr. Jiutan Liu
Topic Editors