Impacts of climate change on groundwater resources: a comprehensive review

Groundwater, the largest readily accessible freshwater resource on Earth, supplies drinking water for billions and underpins over 40% of global agriculture production. Despite the rising scientific focus on climate-driven pressures, region-specific bibliometric assessments remain limited across disciplines. Increasing groundwater demand and excessive extraction are stressing this vital resource, causing declines in availability and quality, along with potential degradation and recharge uncertainty. This bibliometric analysis integrates Indian case studies with a global perspective using Web of Science and Scopus Core Collection data (726 publications since 2000, systematically reviewed via PRISMA from 140 peer-reviewed studies) to evaluate groundwater response through direct and indirect casual factors. Results underscore the need for a multi-dimensional framework addressing challenges at regional and global scales. ‘Climate change’ dominates discussions on altered precipitation, glacial retreat, recharge, subsurface flows and sea level rise impacts emerging hotspots shaping future research. Seasonal aquifers show monsoonal variability: intense rainfall events often boost runoff over recharge, leaving systems stressed post-rainfall. Indirect drivers (industrial/agricultural pollution, Landuse change, unsustainable extraction, and irrigation) amplify these dynamics, compounded by data scarcity, spatial heterogeneity, and poor representation in climate models. This synthesis links groundwater-climate interactions across scales, and advances adaptive management and resilience strategies.