Pollution exacerbates China’s water scarcity and its regional inequality
Chinese Academy of Sciences · Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application · +5 more institutions
Abstract
Inadequate water quality can mean that water is unsuitable for a variety of human uses, thus exacerbating freshwater scarcity. Previous large-scale water scarcity assessments mostly focused on the availability of sufficient freshwater quantity for providing supplies, but neglected the quality constraints on water usability. Here we report a comprehensive nationwide water scarcity assessment in China, which explicitly includes quality requirements for human water uses. We highlight the necessity of incorporating water scarcity assessment at multiple temporal and geographic scales. Our results show that inadequate water quality exacerbates China's water scarcity, which is unevenly distributed across the country.…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 62.64
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 60
Authors
14- TMTing MaCorresponding
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
- SSSiao Sun
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research
- GFGuangtao Fu
University of Exeter
- JWJim W. Hall
University of Oxford
- YNYong Ni
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China National Environmental Monitoring Center, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Topics & keywords
- China
- Water scarcity
- Pollution
- Inequality
- Scarcity
- Natural resource economics
- Environmental science
- Geography
- Clean water and sanitation