Daniel Salzler No. 1330 EnviroInsight.org Four Items October 31, 2025
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1. Study Finds Humans Outweigh Climate In Depleting Arizona’s Water Supply
by Katy Smith, University of Arizona
A study led by University of Arizona researchers shows that decades of groundwater pumping by
humans has depleted Tucson-area aquifers far more than natural climate variation. Published in the journal Water Resources Research, the studyprovides the first multi-millennial reconstruction for the region that places human impacts on groundwater into long-term context.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to get a record of the water table through time,” said Jennifer McIntosh, senior author and the Thomas Meixner Endowed Chair of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences in the College of Science.
Since the climactic period known as the Last Glacial Maximum—about 20,000 years ago—precipitation has continuously recharged the aquifer under Tucson, the study concluded. During dry climate periods, less precipitation seeped back into the aquifer, and the water table dropped by as much as 105 feet (32 meters), compared with the levels in wetter periods.
However, modern pumping from the mid-20th century to present day caused twice the drawdown of the water table compared with natural climate fluctuations.
“It really underscores the impact that humans can have on the environment in a short time,” said first author and recent U of A doctoral graduate Chandler Noyes.
Fossil water—precipitation that entered an aquifer over 12,000 years ago—is naturally mixed with water that recharged the groundwater hundreds to thousands of years ago and some that dates to recent years.
In order to reconstruct the age and recharge history of water in the Tucson Basin, the research team identified chemical and isotopic markers that entered the water either through the atmosphere or via aquifer sediments.
While these naturally occurring substances provide clues to a water sample’s source and age, the water is from a mix of different times, and mathematical models are needed to untangle the overlapping markers. The team used mathematical models integrating multiple markers to reconstruct groundwater ages, recharge rates and water table depths over thousands of years. Combining these markers also provided data to infer past climate conditions, including air temperatures and precipitation patterns.
“The water we drink carries this record of what happened with climate in the Tucson Basin,” McIntosh said, adding that these new techniques for linking climate and hydrology could be applied to aquifers around the world.
Noyes said the study’s results can help water resource managers anticipate how aquifers might react to future changes, whether natural or driven by humans.
Tucson residents began pumping groundwater heavily around the 1940s to support irrigated farming and a rapidly growing population, according to a U of A report. For decades, signs of overdraft and well failures have increased in an environment offering little restriction.
The 1980 Groundwater Management Act established formal controls and introduced sustainability measures. In 1992, the Central Arizona Project began delivering Colorado River water to Tucson.
“Today, about half of the water from our taps comes from local groundwater, and the other half from the Colorado River,” McIntosh said.
Local conservation efforts, in combination with the statewide measures, have helped many of Tucson’s wells partially rebound from heavy usage during the 20th century. However, McIntosh added, the study’s results indicate that while the aquifer is somewhat renewable, recharge is slow and limited, and climate continues to play a key role in the region’s long-term water availability.
“Even if we were to go back to the end of the last ice age, when it was much colder and wetter in the Tucson Basin, we could not recover the amount of groundwater that we’ve removed,” McIntosh said. “Even a really wet climate wouldn’t save us,” indicating that no natural return to wetter conditions could restore the volume of water that has been lost to pumping.
One promising trend is the city of Tucson’s recent adoption of the One Water 2100 plan, McIntosh said. Among other initiatives, the plan calls for continuing and expanding use of treated effluent, including releasing the recycled wastewater into the Santa Cruz River, where it seeps into the ground and helps recharge the aquifer.
“We can enhance recharge by adding more water,” she said. “One way of doing that is releasing our treated effluent in those locations where we know there is modern recharge, providing the highest potential of that water making it to the water table.” Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-10-humans-outweigh-climate-depleting-arizona.html
2 How Much Do You Really Know About Microplastics?
For starters, what exactly are they? Take our quiz
Plastics are everywhere across the world, and have been for decades. But over the past few years, scientists fear that tiny pieces of plastic known as microplastics are polluting the globe and pose health hazards. Some microplastics are specifically used in the manufacture of certain products, others are the result of breakdown of larger bits of plastic and fibers. As such, the growth of microplastics is a phenomenon that is difficult to measure. However, much of the news about microplastics isn’t positive.
How much do you know about microplastics? Take the quiz and find out.
1. How small does a piece of plastic need to be before it is defined as a microplastic?
A. Shorter than 1 millimeter
B. Between 3 and 4 millimeters
C. Shorter than 5 millimeters
D. Between 9 and 11 millimeters
E. Less than 1 centimeter
2. What was the estimated weight of microplastics that leaked into the environment in 2020? One metric ton is about 2,200 pounds.
A. 570 million metric tons
B. 280 million metric tons
C. 57 million metric tons
D. 2.7 million metric tons
E. 570,000 metric tons
3. What percentage of samples were found to contain microplastics in U.S. West Coast seafood, according to a recent scientific analysis?
A. 23%
B. 39%
C. 53%
D. 81%
E. 99%
4. A study of drinks sold in France by France’s food safety agency, Anses, found that many beverages sold in glass bottles had significantly more microplastics than did beverages sold in plastic bottles. Which of the following drinks sold in a glass bottle didn’t have considerably more?
A. Water
B. Tea
C. Lemonade
D. Cola
E. Wine
5. Which of the following is the largest source of microplastics found in the environment?
A. Paint
B. Packaging
C. Pellets
D. Textiles
E. Detergent capsules
6. Microplastics have been detected in some of the 12 human organ systems, according to a study published in the Journal of Global Health. In how many organ systems were microplastics detected?
A. 12
B. 10
C. 8
D. 6
E. 2
7. Humans in 109 countries have ingested more microplastics than in 1990, according to a study spanning the years 1990 to 2018. How much more did people ingest in 2018, according to the study?
A. Double the rate of 1990
B. Four times as much
C. Five times as much
D. Six times as much
E. More than six times as much
8. Which of the following is the most appropriate description of the danger of contact with microplastics?
A. Research shows contact with microplastics is highly dangerous for humans.
B. Microplastics may have some danger to some people.
C. Microplastics research shows that harm to the human body is still unclear.
D. Research shows there is probable danger from contact with microplastics.
E. There appears to be zero correlation of microplastics and danger to humans.
9. How many pieces of microplastic did the United Nations Environment Program estimate were in the oceans in 2017?
A. 51 billion
B. 510 billion
C. 5.1 trillion
D. 51 trillion
E. 510 trillion
10. Which of the following isn’t a way to avoid contact with microplastics?
A. Avoid single-use plastics
B. Wash your clothes more often
C. If you drink tea use loose leaves rather than tea bags
D. Line-dry your clothes
E. Vacuum your home more often
Source: Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2025
Answers at end of newsletter
3. The Water Tried to Kill Us.
Source: Waterwise
4. The History Of Halloween. Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago mostly in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.
This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter—a time of year that was often associated with human death. The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
Pope Gregory III later expanded the festival to include all saints and martyrs and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1.
By the ninth century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, gradually blending with and supplanted older Celtic rites. In 1000, the church made November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. Many believe the church created the holiday to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-approved observance.
All Souls’ Day was celebrated much like Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints’ Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
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Answers:
1) C Micro plastics are tiny bits plastic less than 5 mm long says the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. An plastics are even tinier much smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
2) D some 2.7 million metric tons of microplastics were estimated to have leaked into the environment in 2020 according to a report from the organization for economics, cooperation and development. The projected figure for 2040 is 41 million..
3) E According to a paper published in Frontiers Toxicology, anthropogenic particles, including micro plastics, were found in 99% of 182 seafood samples. A breakdown of the types of particles found 82% fibers 17% fragments and 0.66% films.
4). E Wine., according to the Anses data. Part of this may be because glass bottles for some drinks have metal caps covered with paint unknown source of microplastics.. wine is almost always capped with a cork in France.
5) A According to a report from the European Environmental Agency, paint is the largest source of microplastics unintentionally released in the environment. The American Coating Association., a paint-industry, trade group disputes the report .
6) C Microplastics have been found in eight organ systems: cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine, lymphatic, respiratory, reproductive, and urinary.
7) E Ingestion of microplastics includes airborne and through food, increased over six fold from 1990 to 2018, according to the study published in 2024 by the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.
8) C Almost all the studies and the toxicity of microplastics use experimental models, and a harm to human to the body is still unclear, according to a study of scientific research, published in Environment and Health, part of the publishing arm of the American Chemical Society, a nonprofit scientific group dedicated to the advancement of chemistry.
9) D There were about 51 trillion pieces of microplastics in our oceans in 2017, according to UNEP, some 500 times more than there are stars in our galaxy.
10) B Washing your clothes more frequently isn’t good as the more you wash, the more micro plastics are likely to be shed, according to research from Washington University in St. Louis.
