Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute
Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications
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Date of this Version
2-12-2016
Document Type
Article
Citation
2016 The Authors,
Abstract
Freshwater scarcity is increasingly perceived as a global systemic risk. Previous global water scarcity assessments, measuring water scarcity annually, have underestimated experienced water scarcity by failing to capture the sea- sonal fluctuations in water consumption and availability. We assess blue water scarcity globally at a high spatial resolution on a monthly basis. We find that two-thirds of the global population (4.0 billion people) live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least 1 month of the year. Nearly half of those people live in India and China. Half a billion people in the world face severe water scarcity all year round. Putting caps to water consumption by river basin, increasing water-use efficiencies, and better sharing of the limited freshwater resources will be key in reducing the threat posed by water scarcity on biodiversity and human welfare.
Included in
Environmental Health and Protection Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons, Hydraulic Engineering Commons, Hydrology Commons, Natural Resource Economics Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Sustainability Commons, Water Resource Management Commons
Comments
Mekonnen and Hoekstra Sci. Adv. 2016;2:e1500323