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  • Review Article
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The anthropogenic salt cycle

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 4, pages 770–784 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Increasing salt production and use is shifting the natural balances of salt ions across Earth systems, causing interrelated effects across biophysical systems collectively known as freshwater salinization syndrome. In this Review, we conceptualize the natural salt cycle and synthesize increasing global trends of salt production and riverine salt concentrations and fluxes. The natural salt cycle is primarily driven by relatively slow geologic and hydrologic processes that bring different salts to the surface of the Earth. Anthropogenic activities have accelerated the processes, timescales and magnitudes of salt fluxes and altered their directionality, creating an anthropogenic salt cycle. Global salt production has increased rapidly over the past century for different salts, with approximately 300 Mt of NaCl produced per year. A salt budget for the USA suggests that salt fluxes in rivers can be within similar orders of magnitude as anthropogenic salt fluxes, and there can be substantial accumulation of salt in watersheds. Excess salt propagates along the anthropogenic salt cycle, causing freshwater salinization syndrome to extend beyond freshwater supplies and affect food and energy production, air quality, human health and infrastructure. There is a need to identify environmental limits and thresholds for salt ions and reduce salinization before planetary boundaries are exceeded, causing serious or irreversible damage across Earth systems.

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Fig. 1: Natural and anthropogenic salt cycles.
Fig. 2: Salt production and consumption trends.
Fig. 3: Global heterogeneity in environmental salinity.
Fig. 4: Sodium and chloride concentrations in rivers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Science Foundation GCR 2021089 and 2021015, Maryland Sea Grant SA75281870W and the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments contract number 21-001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology & Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Sujay S. Kaushal, Ruth R. Shatkay, Sydney A. Shelton, Alexis M. Yaculak, Carly M. Maas, Jenna E. Reimer & Joseph T. Malin

  2. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, USA

    Gene E. Likens

  3. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Gene E. Likens

  4. Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific Ecological Systems Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Paul M. Mayer

  5. Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory, The Charles E. Via Jr Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Manassas, VA, USA

    Stanley B. Grant, Shantanu V. Bhide & Megan A. Rippy

  6. Center for Coastal Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Stanley B. Grant & Megan A. Rippy

  7. Falk School of Sustainability, Chatham University, Gibsonia, PA, USA

    Ryan M. Utz

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Contributions

S.S.K., G.E.L., P.M.M., R.R.S., S.A.S., S.B.G., R.M.U. and M.A.R. contributed to writing of the paper. R.R.S., S.A.S., R.M.U., A.M.Y., C.M.M., J.E.R., S.V.B. and J.T.M. contributed to researching data. All the authors contributed to the discussion of content and review and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sujay S. Kaushal.

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Kaushal, S.S., Likens, G.E., Mayer, P.M. et al. The anthropogenic salt cycle. Nat Rev Earth Environ 4, 770–784 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00485-y

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