Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints
Water scarcity adversely affects ecosystems, human well-being and the economy. It can be described by water scarcity indices (WSIs) which we calculated globally for the decades 1981–1990 and 2001–2010. Based on a model ensemble, we calculated the WSI for both decades including uncertainties. While t...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/054008 |
| _version_ | 1797748661796470784 |
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| author | Laura Scherer Stephan Pfister |
| author_facet | Laura Scherer Stephan Pfister |
| author_sort | Laura Scherer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Water scarcity adversely affects ecosystems, human well-being and the economy. It can be described by water scarcity indices (WSIs) which we calculated globally for the decades 1981–1990 and 2001–2010. Based on a model ensemble, we calculated the WSI for both decades including uncertainties. While there is a slight tendency of increased water scarcity in 2001–2010, the likelihood of the increase is rather low (53%). Climate change played only a minor role, but increased water consumption is more decisive. In the last decade, a large share of the global population already lived under highly water scarce conditions with a global average monthly WSI of 0.51 (on a scale from 0 to 1). Considering that globally there are enough water resources to satisfy all our needs, this highlights the need for regional optimization of water consumption. In addition, crop choices within a food group can help reduce humanity’s water scarcity footprint without reducing its nutritional value. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:07:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dd3eefa04e614e179f2bee2d8d52d9b8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:07:58Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-dd3eefa04e614e179f2bee2d8d52d9b82023-08-09T14:16:28ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262016-01-0111505400810.1088/1748-9326/11/5/054008Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprintsLaura Scherer0Stephan Pfister1Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, SwitzerlandWater scarcity adversely affects ecosystems, human well-being and the economy. It can be described by water scarcity indices (WSIs) which we calculated globally for the decades 1981–1990 and 2001–2010. Based on a model ensemble, we calculated the WSI for both decades including uncertainties. While there is a slight tendency of increased water scarcity in 2001–2010, the likelihood of the increase is rather low (53%). Climate change played only a minor role, but increased water consumption is more decisive. In the last decade, a large share of the global population already lived under highly water scarce conditions with a global average monthly WSI of 0.51 (on a scale from 0 to 1). Considering that globally there are enough water resources to satisfy all our needs, this highlights the need for regional optimization of water consumption. In addition, crop choices within a food group can help reduce humanity’s water scarcity footprint without reducing its nutritional value.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/054008water scarcitymulti-model ensembleMonte Carlo simulationglobal changeimpact assessment |
| spellingShingle | Laura Scherer Stephan Pfister Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints Environmental Research Letters water scarcity multi-model ensemble Monte Carlo simulation global change impact assessment |
| title | Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints |
| title_full | Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints |
| title_fullStr | Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints |
| title_short | Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints |
| title_sort | dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints |
| topic | water scarcity multi-model ensemble Monte Carlo simulation global change impact assessment |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/054008 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT laurascherer dealingwithuncertaintyinwaterscarcityfootprints AT stephanpfister dealingwithuncertaintyinwaterscarcityfootprints |