Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · +14 more institutions
Abstract
Water scarcity is rapidly increasing in many regions. In a novel, multi-model assessment, we examine how human interventions (HI: land use and land cover change, man-made reservoirs and human water use) affected monthly river water availability and water scarcity over the period 1971-2010. Here we show that HI drastically change the critical dimensions of water scarcity, aggravating water scarcity for 8.8% (7.4-16.5%) of the global population but alleviating it for another 8.3% (6.4-15.8%). Positive impacts of HI mostly occur upstream, whereas HI aggravate water scarcity downstream; HI cause water scarcity to travel downstream. Attribution of water scarcity changes to HI components is complex and varies among…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 38.66
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 62
Authors
13- TVTed VeldkampCorresponding
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- YWYoshihide Wada
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Utrecht University, Columbia University
- JCJeroen C. J. H. Aerts
University of California, Santa Barbara, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- PDPetra Döll
Goethe University Frankfurt, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
- SNSimon N. Gosling
University of Nottingham
Topics & keywords
- Water scarcity
- Scarcity
- Environmental science
- Climate change
- Downstream (manufacturing)
- Upstream (networking)
- Population
- Natural resource economics
- Clean water and sanitation