Your search found 3 records
1 Vorosmarty, C. J.; McIntyre, P. B.; Gessner, M. O.; Dudgeon, D.; Prusevich, A.; Green, P.; Glidden, S.; Bunn, S. E.; Sullivan, C. A.; Liermann, C. R.; Davies, P. M. 2010. Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature, 467:555-561. [doi: https://doi.org/ 10.1038/nature09440]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H043790)
(2.65 MB)
Protecting the world’s freshwater resources requires diagnosing threats over a broad range of scales, fromglobal to local. Here we present the first worldwide synthesis to jointly consider human and biodiversity perspectives on water security using a spatial framework that quantifies multiple stressors and accounts for downstream impacts. We find that nearly 80% of the world’s population is exposed to high levels of threat to water security. Massive investment in water technology enables rich nations to offset high stressor levels without remedying their underlying causes, whereas less wealthy nations remain vulnerable. A similar lack of precautionary investment jeopardizes biodiversity, with habitats associated with 65% of continental discharge classified as moderately to highly threatened. The cumulative threat framework offers a tool for prioritizing policy and management responses to this crisis, and underscores the necessity of limiting threats at their source instead of through costly remediation of symptoms in order to assure global water security for both humans and freshwater biodiversity.
2 Vorosmarty, C. J.; McIntyre, P. B.; Gessner, M. O.; Dudgeon, D.; Prusevich, A.; Green, P.; Glidden, S.; Bunn, S. E.; Sullivan, C. A.; Reidy Liermann, C. 2010. Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature, 467:555-562. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09549]
Water security ; Rivers ; Biodiversity ; Ecosystems ; Environmental effects ; Frameworks ; Water resources development ; Maps
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H044244)
(2.65 MB)
Protecting the world’s freshwater resources requires diagnosing threats over a broad range of scales, fromglobal to local. Here we present the first worldwide synthesis to jointly consider human and biodiversity perspectives on water security using a spatial framework that quantifies multiple stressors and accounts for downstream impacts. We find that nearly 80% of the world’s population is exposed to high levels of threat to water security. Massive investment in water technology enables rich nations to offset high stressor levels without remedying their underlying causes, whereas less wealthy nations remain vulnerable. A similar lack of precautionary investment jeopardizes biodiversity, with habitats associated with 65% of continental discharge classified as moderately to highly threatened. The cumulative threat framework offers a tool for prioritizing policy and management responses to this crisis, and underscores the necessity of limiting threats at their source instead of through costly remediation of symptoms in order to assure global water security for both humans and freshwater biodiversity.
3 Vorosmarty, C. J.; Stewart-Koster, B.; Green, P. A.; Boone, E. L.; Florke, M.; Fischer, G.; Wiberg, David A.; Bunn, S. E.; Bhaduri, A.; McIntyre, P. B.; Sadoff, C.; Liu, H.; Stifel, David. 2021. A green-gray path to global water security and sustainable infrastructure. Global Environmental Change, 70:102344. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102344]
Water security ; Water resources ; Water management ; Infrastructure ; Natural capital ; Ecosystem services ; Sustainable Development Goals ; Environmental degradation ; Forecasting ; Investment ; Frameworks ; Economic aspects
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050666)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378021001230/pdfft?md5=ca672c3daa45eeb798d8a5cf9a93f3bb&pid=1-s2.0-S0959378021001230-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050666.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050666.pdf
(11.20 MB) (11.2 MB)
Sustainable development demands reliable water resources, yet traditional water management has broadly failed to avoid environmental degradation and contain infrastructure costs. We explore the global-scale feasibility of combining natural capital with engineering-based (green-gray) approaches to meet water security threats over the 21st century. Threats to water resource systems are projected to rise throughout this period, together with a significant expansion in engineering deployments and progressive loss of natural capital. In many parts of the world, strong path dependencies are projected to arise from the legacy of prior environmental degradation that constrains future water management to a heavy reliance on engineering-based approaches. Elsewhere, retaining existing stocks of natural capital creates opportunities to employ blended green-gray water infrastructure. By 2050, annual engineering expenditures are projected to triple to $2.3 trillion, invested mainly in developing economies. In contrast, preserving natural capital for threat suppression represents a potential $3.0 trillion in avoided replacement costs by mid-century. Society pays a premium whenever these nature-based assets are lost, as the engineering costs necessary to achieve an equivalent level of threat management are, on average, twice as expensive. Countries projected to rapidly expand their engineering investments while losing natural capital will be most constrained in realizing green-gray water management. The situation is expected to be most restrictive across the developing world, where the economic, technical, and governance capacities to overcome such challenges remain limited. Our results demonstrate that policies that support blended green-gray approaches offer a pathway to future global water security but will require a strategic commitment to preserving natural capital. Absent such stewardship, the costs of water resource infrastructure and services will likely rise substantially and frustrate efforts to attain universal and sustainable water security.
Powered by DB/Text WebPublisher, from
