Water in a Warming World
(Image credited to Comstock/Thinkstock)
Water is the basis for life as we know it, in a biological as well as a societal sense. Under the combined influences of human development and a warming climate, supply and demand of water for consumption and irrigation, mineral exploration and energy production will change. In this joint web focus, Nature Geoscience and Nature Climate Change present overview articles, original research and opinion pieces that analyse the availability and governance of fresh water in a changing world.
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Interview
Nature Climate Change: Water at a crossroad -
Interview with Pavel Kabat
doi:10.1038/nclimate1780
Climate and water expert Pavel Kabat — director and CEO of the International Institute for Applied System Analysis in Austria — calls for a long-term system approach to water research, new partnerships with the developing world and a change in donor practices, to tackle water-climate issues. He talks to Nature Climate Change.
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Perspective
Nature Climate Change: Global insights about water, climate change and governance -
Grafton et al.
doi:10.1038/nclimate1746
The high levels of water extraction from the Colorado, Murray, Orange and Yellow rivers are shown to be the main cause of reduced flows in these systems. Changes in governance are urgently required to preserve the health of these rivers, especially in light of the present and future impacts of climate change.
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Letters
Nature Geoscience: Increased water storage in North America and Scandinavia from GRACE gravity data -
Wang et al.
doi:10.1038/ngeo1652
Changes in continental water storage have been difficult to constrain from space-borne gravity data in regions experiencing both ice melting and glacial isostatic adjustment. Separation of the hydrologic and isostatic signals reveals increases in water storage in both North America and Scandinavia over the past decade.
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Nature Climate Change: Water-quality impacts from climate-induced forest die-off -
Mikkelson et al.
doi:10.1038/nclimate1724
Climate change is known to influence insect-induced tree mortality. Research now reveals knock-on implications for municipal water quality in Colorado, USA. Significantly higher levels of harmful disinfection by-products and total organic carbon were found in treatment facilities using water from mountain pine beetle-infested basins compared with unaffected watersheds.
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Nature Climate Change: Increasing drought under global warming: reconciling observed and model-simulated changes-
Dai et al.
doi:10.1038/nclimate1633
Historical records show increased aridity over many land areas since 1950. This study looks at observations and model projections from 1923 to 2010, to test the ability of models to predict future drought conditions. Models are able to capture the greenhouse-gas forcing and El Niño–Southern Oscillation mode for historical periods, which inspires confidence in their projections of drought.
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From the archives
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Progress Article
Nature Geoscience: Vulnerability of deep groundwater in the Bengal Aquifer System to contamination by arsenic -
Burgess et al.
doi:10.1038/ngeo750
Arsenic levels in shallow groundwater in the Bengal Basin exceed thresholds for safe drinking water. Groundwater modelling indicates that deep wells that reach safe water below 150 m could remain safe for centuries if used for domestic water only, whereas the intensive use of deep groundwater for irrigation could contaminate this resource within decades.
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Review
Nature Climate Change: Greenhouse-gas emissions from energy use in the water sector -
Rothausen & Conway
doi:10.1038/nclimate1147
The processes of abstraction, conveyance and treatment of fresh water and wastewater are all energy-intensive processes. This systematic review shows that the growing energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions from the water sector are under-recognized, suggesting the need for energy use to be further quantified and integrated into water resources management.
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Letters
Nature Climate Change: Vulnerability of US and European electricity supply to climate change -
Van Vliet et al.
doi:10.1038/nclimate1546
Thermoelectric power in Europe and the United States is vulnerable to climate change. Here research relates lower summer river flows and higher river water temperatures as a result of climate change to thermoelectric plant capacity. Summer average capacity can decrease by 6.3–19% in Europe and 4.4–16% in the United States, depending on the cooling system type and climate scenario for 2031–2060.
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Nature Geoscience: Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America -
Schwalm et al.
doi:10.1038/ngeo1529
The severity and incidence of climatic extremes, including drought, have increased as a result of climate warming. Analyses of observational and reanalysis data suggest that the strength of the western North American carbon sink declined by 30–298 Tg carbon per year during the drought at the turn of the century.
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Nature Geoscience: Model estimates of sea-level change due to anthropogenic impacts on terrestrial water storage -
Pokhrel et al.
doi:10.1038/ngeo1476
Changes in terrestrial water storage are likely to affect sea level, but comprehensive and reliable data are scarce. Simulations of global terrestrial water stocks and flows, with an integrated model that specifically accounts for human activities, indicate that groundwater depletion and reservoir storage have together led to a sea-level rise of about 0.66 mm yr−1 between 1961 and 2003, about 36% of the observed rise.
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Nature Climate Change: Vulnerability of coastal aquifers to groundwater use and climate change -
Ferguson & Gleeson
doi:10.1038/nclimate1413
There are concerns that sea-level rise resulting from climate change could lead to saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers. However, a study shows that groundwater extraction is the main driver of saltwater intrusion in the United States, highlighting the importance of sustainable water management.
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Articles
Nature Geoscience: Snowfall increase in coastal East Antarctica linked with southwest Western Australian drought -
Van Ommen & Morgan
doi:10.1038/ngeo761
The southwest corner of Western Australia has been subject to a serious drought in recent decades, whose ultimate cause remains unclear. A comparison of precipitation records in the area of drought and an ice core from East Antarctica reveal a significant inverse correlation between precipitation in the two locations, and suggest that the current drought may be highly unusual compared with the past 750 years of variability.
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