Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century

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 s...

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Main Authors: Veldkamp, T.I.E., Wada, Y., Aerts, J.C.J.H., Döll, P., Gosling, Simon N., Liu, J., Masaki, Y., Oki, T., Ostberg, S., Pokhrel, Y., Satoh, Y., Kim, H., Ward, P.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2017
Online Access:http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/
http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/
http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/
http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/1/Veldkamp_etal_2017.pdf
id nottingham-43615
recordtype eprints
spelling nottingham-436152018-05-05T17:36:14Z http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/ Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century Veldkamp, T.I.E. Wada, Y. Aerts, J.C.J.H. Döll, P. Gosling, Simon N. Liu, J. Masaki, Y. Oki, T. Ostberg, S. Pokhrel, Y. Satoh, Y. Kim, H. Ward, P.J. 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 the hydrological models. Seasonal variation in impacts and dominant HI components is also substantial. A thorough consideration of the spatially and temporally varying interactions among HI components and of uncertainties is therefore crucial for the success of water scarcity adaptation by HI. Nature Publishing Group 2017-06-15 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/1/Veldkamp_etal_2017.pdf Veldkamp, T.I.E. and Wada, Y. and Aerts, J.C.J.H. and Döll, P. and Gosling, Simon N. and Liu, J. and Masaki, Y. and Oki, T. and Ostberg, S. and Pokhrel, Y. and Satoh, Y. and Kim, H. and Ward, P.J. (2017) Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century. Nature Communications, 8 . 15697/1-15697/12. ISSN 2041-1723 https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15697 doi:10.1038/ncomms15697 doi:10.1038/ncomms15697
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
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language English
description 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 the hydrological models. Seasonal variation in impacts and dominant HI components is also substantial. A thorough consideration of the spatially and temporally varying interactions among HI components and of uncertainties is therefore crucial for the success of water scarcity adaptation by HI.
format Article
author Veldkamp, T.I.E.
Wada, Y.
Aerts, J.C.J.H.
Döll, P.
Gosling, Simon N.
Liu, J.
Masaki, Y.
Oki, T.
Ostberg, S.
Pokhrel, Y.
Satoh, Y.
Kim, H.
Ward, P.J.
spellingShingle Veldkamp, T.I.E.
Wada, Y.
Aerts, J.C.J.H.
Döll, P.
Gosling, Simon N.
Liu, J.
Masaki, Y.
Oki, T.
Ostberg, S.
Pokhrel, Y.
Satoh, Y.
Kim, H.
Ward, P.J.
Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century
author_facet Veldkamp, T.I.E.
Wada, Y.
Aerts, J.C.J.H.
Döll, P.
Gosling, Simon N.
Liu, J.
Masaki, Y.
Oki, T.
Ostberg, S.
Pokhrel, Y.
Satoh, Y.
Kim, H.
Ward, P.J.
author_sort Veldkamp, T.I.E.
title Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century
title_short Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century
title_full Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century
title_fullStr Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century
title_full_unstemmed Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century
title_sort water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century
publisher Nature Publishing Group
publishDate 2017
url http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/
http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/
http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/
http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43615/1/Veldkamp_etal_2017.pdf
first_indexed 2018-09-06T13:27:36Z
last_indexed 2018-09-06T13:27:36Z
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