Abstract

Freshwater availability is changing worldwide. Here we quantify 34 trends in terrestrial water storage observed by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites during 2002-2016 and categorize their drivers as natural interannual variability, unsustainable groundwater consumption, climate change or combinations thereof. Several of these trends had been lacking thorough investigation and attribution, including massive changes in northwestern China and the Okavango Delta. Others are consistent with climate model predictions. This observation-based assessment of how the world's water landscape is responding to human impacts and climate variations provides a blueprint for evaluating and predicting emerging threats to water and food security.

Keywords

Climate changeEnvironmental scienceBlueprintWater securityEnvironmental resource managementChinaGlobal warmingGeographyClimatologyEcologyWater resourcesGeology

MeSH Terms

ChinaClimate ChangeFood SupplyFresh WaterGroundwaterHuman ActivitiesHumansModelsTheoreticalWater Supply

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Publication Info

Year
2018
Type
article
Volume
557
Issue
7707
Pages
651-659
Citations
1850
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Matthew Rodell, J. S. Famiglietti, D. N. Wiese et al. (2018). Emerging trends in global freshwater availability. Nature , 557 (7707) , 651-659. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0123-1

Identifiers

DOI
10.1038/s41586-018-0123-1
PMID
29769728
PMCID
PMC6077847

Data Quality

Data completeness: 90%