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Falk J, Colwell RR, Behera SK, El-Beltagy AS, Gleick PH, Kennel CF, Lee YT, Murray CA, Serageldin I, Takeuchi K, Yasunari T, Watanabe C, Kauffman J, Soderland K, Elouafi I, Paroda R, Chapagain AK, Rundle J, Hanasaki N, Hayashi H, Akinsete E, Hayashida S. An urgent need for COP27: confronting converging crises. Sustain Sci 2022; 18:1059-1063. [PMID: 36405348 PMCID: PMC9647240 DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01253-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The last 12 months have provided further evidence of the potential for cascading ecological and socio-political crises that were warned of 12 months ago. Then a consensus statement from the Regional Action on Climate Change Symposium warned: "the Earth's climatic, ecological, and human systems are converging towards a crisis that threatens to engulf global civilization within the lifetimes of children now living." Since then, the consequences of a broad set of extreme climate events (notably droughts, floods, and fires) have been compounded by interaction with impacts from multiple pandemics (including COVID-19 and cholera) and the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, new connections are becoming visible between climate change and human health, large vulnerable populations are experiencing food crises, climate refugees are on the move, and the risks of water, food, and climate disruption have been visibly converging and compounding. Many vulnerable populations now face serious challenges to adapt. In light of these trends, this year, RACC identifies a range of measures to be taken at global and regional levels to bolster the resilience of these populations in the face of such emerging crises. In particular, at all scales, there is a need for globally available local data, reliable analytic techniques, community capacity to plan adaptation strategies, and the resources (scientific, technical, cultural, and economic) to implement them. To date, the rate of growth of the support for climate change resilience lags behind the rapid growth of cascading and converging risks. As an urgent message to COP27, it is proposed that the time is now right to devote much greater emphasis, global funding, and support to the increasing adaptation needs of vulnerable populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jim Falk
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
| | - Rita R. Colwell
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA
| | - Swadhin K. Behera
- Application Laboratory, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
- Department of Ocean Technology, Policy and Environment, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Adel S. El-Beltagy
- International Dryland Development Commission, Arid Land Agricultural Graduate Studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Peter H. Gleick
- Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security, Oakland, USA
| | - Charles F. Kennel
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, USA
- Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Cherry A. Murray
- Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
- University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | | | - Kazuhiko Takeuchi
- Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Kanagawa, Japan
- Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tetsuzo Yasunari
- RIHN Center, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan
- Kyoto Climate Change Adaptation Center (KCCAC), Kyoto, Japan
| | - Chiho Watanabe
- School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
- The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Joanne Kauffman
- Science for Sustainable Societies, Springer-Verlag, Paris, France
| | | | - Ismahane Elouafi
- Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
| | - Raj Paroda
- Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), New Delhi, India
| | | | - John Rundle
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Davis, Davis, USA
| | - Naota Hanasaki
- Center for Climate Change Adaptation (Climate Change Impacts Assessment Research Section), National Institute of Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Haruo Hayashi
- National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Ebun Akinsete
- International Centre for Research on the Environment and the Economy/UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Greece, Athens, Greece
| | - Sachiko Hayashida
- Research Institute for Humanity and Nature Faculty of Science (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan
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Hoekstra AY, Mekonnen MM, Chapagain AK, Mathews RE, Richter BD. Global monthly water scarcity: blue water footprints versus blue water availability. PLoS One 2012; 7:e32688. [PMID: 22393438 PMCID: PMC3290560 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 190] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2011] [Accepted: 01/29/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide. We improve upon past efforts by using estimates of blue water footprints (consumptive use of ground- and surface water flows) rather than water withdrawals, accounting for the flows needed to sustain critical ecological functions and by considering monthly rather than annual values. We analyzed 405 river basins for the period 1996–2005. In 201 basins with 2.67 billion inhabitants there was severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. The ecological and economic consequences of increasing degrees of water scarcity – as evidenced by the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo), Indus, and Murray-Darling River Basins – can include complete desiccation during dry seasons, decimation of aquatic biodiversity, and substantial economic disruption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjen Y Hoekstra
- Department of Water Engineering and Management, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
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Chapagain AK, Orr S. An improved water footprint methodology linking global consumption to local water resources: a case of Spanish tomatoes. J Environ Manage 2009; 90:1219-1228. [PMID: 18703270 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2007] [Revised: 05/29/2008] [Accepted: 06/25/2008] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
A water footprint (WF) measures the total water consumed by a nation, business or individual by calculating the total water used during the production of goods and services. This paper extends the existing methods for WF to more localised levels for crops grown partly in open systems and partly in plastic-covered houses with multi-seasonal harvesting, such as the horticulture industry in Spain. This improvement makes it possible to visualise the links of EU tomato consumption to precise production sites in Spain and opens a debate to the usefulness of such findings. This paper also compares existing ecological methodologies with WF and argues that both life cycle analysis (LCA) and ecological footprint (EF) models could benefit from WF methods. Our results show that the EU consumes 957,000 tons of Spanish fresh tomatoes annually, which evaporates 71 Mm(3)/yr of water and would require 7 Mm(3)/yr of water to dilute leached nitrates in Spain. In Spain, tomato production alone evaporates 297 Mm(3)/yr and pollutes 29 Mm(3)/yr of freshwater. Depending upon the local agro-climatic character, status of water resources, total tomato production volumes and production system, the impact of EU consumption of fresh tomatoes on Spanish freshwater is very location specific. The authors suggest that business now seek to report and address negative impacts on the environment. WF opens the door to complex water relationships and provides vital information for policy actors, business leaders, regulators and managers to their draw, dependence and responsibilities on this increasingly scarce resource.
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Affiliation(s)
- A K Chapagain
- WWF-UK, Panda House, Weyside Park, Godalming, Surrey, UK.
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Galloway JN, Burke M, Bradford GE, Naylor R, Falcon W, Chapagain AK, Gaskell JC, McCullough E, Mooney HA, Oleson KLL, Steinfeld H, Wassenaar T, Smil V. International trade in meat: the tip of the pork chop. Ambio 2007; 36:622-9. [PMID: 18240675 DOI: 10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[622:itimtt]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
This paper provides an original account of global land, water, and nitrogen use in support of industrialized livestock production and trade, with emphasis on two of the fastest-growing sectors, pork and poultry. Our analysis focuses on trade in feed and animal products, using a new model that calculates the amount of "virtual" nitrogen, water, and land used in production but not embedded in the product. We show how key meat-importing countries, such as Japan, benefit from "virtual" trade in land, water, and nitrogen, and how key meat-exporting countries, such as Brazil, provide these resources without accounting for their true environmental cost. Results show that Japan's pig and chicken meat imports embody the virtual equivalent of 50% of Japan's total arable land, and half of Japan's virtual nitrogen total is lost in the US. Trade links with China are responsible for 15% of the virtual nitrogen left behind in Brazil due to feed and meat exports, and 20% of Brazil's area is used to grow soybean exports. The complexity of trade in meat, feed, water, and nitrogen is illustrated by the dual roles of the US and The Netherlands as both importers and exporters of meat. Mitigation of environmental damage from industrialized livestock production and trade depends on a combination of direct-pricing strategies, regulatory approaches, and use of best management practices. Our analysis indicates that increased water- and nitrogen-use efficiency and land conservation resulting from these measures could significantly reduce resource costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- James N Galloway
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
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Abstract
North China faces severe water scarcity--more than 40% of the annual renewable water resources are abstracted for human use. Nevertheless, nearly 10% of the water used in agriculture is employed in producing food exported to south China. To compensate for this 'virtual water flow' and to reduce water scarcity in the north, the huge south-north Water Transfer Project is currently being implemented. This paradox--the transfer of huge volumes of water from the water-rich south to the water-poor north versus transfer of substantial volumes of food from the food-sufficient north to the food-deficit south--is receiving increased attention, but the research in this field has not yet reached further than rough estimation and qualitative description. The aim of this paper is to review and quantify the volumes of virtual water flows between the regions in China and to put them in the context of water availability per region. The analysis shows that north China annually exports about 52 billion m3 of water in virtual form to south China, which is more than the maximum proposed water transfer volume along the three routes of the Water Transfer Project from south to north.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Ma
- China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research Department of Water Resources No. 20 Chegongzhuang West Road, Haidian District, 100044 Beijing, China.
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