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- AghaKouchak, Amir, et al.
(author)
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Anthropogenic Drought : Definition, Challenges, and Opportunities
- 2021
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In: Reviews of geophysics. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 8755-1209 .- 1944-9208. ; 59:2
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Traditional, mainstream definitions of drought describe it as deficit in water-related variables or water-dependent activities (e.g., precipitation, soil moisture, surface and groundwater storage, and irrigation) due to natural variabilities that are out of the control of local decision-makers. Here, we argue that within coupled human-water systems, drought must be defined and understood as a process as opposed to a product to help better frame and describe the complex and interrelated dynamics of both natural and human-induced changes that define anthropogenic drought as a compound multidimensional and multiscale phenomenon, governed by the combination of natural water variability, climate change, human decisions and activities, and altered micro-climate conditions due to changes in land and water management. This definition considers the full spectrum of dynamic feedbacks and processes (e.g., land-atmosphere interactions and water and energy balance) within human-nature systems that drive the development of anthropogenic drought. This process magnifies the water supply demand gap and can lead to water bankruptcy, which will become more rampant around the globe in the coming decades due to continuously growing water demands under compounding effects of climate change and global environmental degradation. This challenge has de facto implications for both short-term and long-term water resources planning and management, water governance, and policymaking. Herein, after a brief overview of the anthropogenic drought concept and its examples, we discuss existing research gaps and opportunities for better understanding, modeling, and management of this phenomenon.
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2. |
- Hallerbäck, Sofia, et al.
(author)
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Climate warming shortens ice durations and alters freeze and break-up patterns in Swedish water bodies
- 2022
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In: Cryosphere. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1994-0416. ; 16:6, s. 2493-2503
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Increasing air temperatures reduce the duration of ice cover on lakes and rivers, threatening to alter their water quality, ecology, biodiversity, and physical, economical and recreational function. Using a unique in situ record of freeze and break-up dates, including records dating back to the beginning of the 18th century, we analyze changes in ice duration (i.e., first freeze to last break-up), freeze and break-up patterns across Sweden. Results indicate a significant trend in shorter ice duration (62 %), later freeze (36 %) and earlier break-up (58 %) dates from 1913-2014. In the latter 3 decades (1985-2014), the mean observed ice durations have decreased by about 11 d in northern (above 60°N) and 28 d in southern Sweden relative to the earlier three decades. In the same period, the average freeze date occurred about 10 d later and break-up date about 17 d earlier in southern Sweden. The rate of change is roughly twice as large in southern Sweden as in the northern part. Sweden has experienced an increase in occurrence of years with an extremely short ice cover duration (i.e., less than 50 d), which occurred about 8 times more often in southern Sweden than previously observed. Our analysis indicates that even a 1°C increase in air temperatures in southern (northern) Sweden results in a mean decrease of ice duration of 22.5 (±7.6) d. Given that warming is expected to continue across Sweden during the 21st century, we expect increasingly significant impacts on ice cover duration and hence, ecology, water quality, transportation, and recreational activities in the region.
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3. |
- Kreibich, Heidi, et al.
(author)
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Panta Rhei benchmark dataset : Socio-hydrological data of paired events of floods and droughts
- 2023
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In: Earth System Science Data. - : Copernicus Publications. - 1866-3508 .- 1866-3516. ; 15:5, s. 2009-2023
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As the adverse impacts of hydrological extremes increase in many regions of the world, a better understanding of the drivers of changes in risk and impacts is essential for effective flood and drought risk management and climate adaptation. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive, empirical data about the processes, interactions, and feedbacks in complex human-water systems leading to flood and drought impacts. Here we present a benchmark dataset containing socio-hydrological data of paired events, i.e. two floods or two droughts that occurred in the same area. The 45 paired events occurred in 42 different study areas and cover a wide range of socio-economic and hydro-climatic conditions. The dataset is unique in covering both floods and droughts, in the number of cases assessed and in the quantity of socio-hydrological data. The benchmark dataset comprises (1) detailed review-style reports about the events and key processes between the two events of a pair; (2) the key data table containing variables that assess the indicators which characterize management shortcomings, hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and impacts of all events; and (3) a table of the indicators of change that indicate the differences between the first and second event of a pair. The advantages of the dataset are that it enables comparative analyses across all the paired events based on the indicators of change and allows for detailed context- and location-specific assessments based on the extensive data and reports of the individual study areas. The dataset can be used by the scientific community for exploratory data analyses, e.g. focused on causal links between risk management; changes in hazard, exposure and vulnerability; and flood or drought impacts. The data can also be used for the development, calibration, and validation of socio-hydrological models. The dataset is available to the public through the GFZ Data Services (Kreibich et al., 2023, 10.5880/GFZ.4.4.2023.001).
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4. |
- Kreibich, Heidi, et al.
(author)
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The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management
- 2022
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In: Nature. - : Springer Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 608:7921, s. 80-86
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Risk management has reduced vulnerability to floods and droughts globally, yet their impacts are still increasing. An improved understanding of the causes of changing impacts is therefore needed, but has been hampered by a lack of empirical data4,5. On the basis of a global dataset of 45 pairs of events that occurred within the same area, we show that risk management generally reduces the impacts of floods and droughts but faces difficulties in reducing the impacts of unprecedented events of a magnitude not previously experienced. If the second event was much more hazardous than the first, its impact was almost always higher. This is because management was not designed to deal with such extreme events: for example, they exceeded the design levels of levees and reservoirs. In two success stories, the impact of the second, more hazardous, event was lower, as a result of improved risk management governance and high investment in integrated management. The observed difficulty of managing unprecedented events is alarming, given that more extreme hydrological events are projected owing to climate change.
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5. |
- Ward, Philip J., et al.
(author)
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The need to integrate flood and drought disaster risk reduction strategies
- 2020
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In: Water Security. - : Elsevier BV. - 2468-3124. ; 11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most research on hydrological risks focuses either on flood risk or drought risk, whilst floods and droughts are two extremes of the same hydrological cycle. To better design disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures and strategies, it is important to consider interactions between these closely linked phenomena. We show examples of: (a) how flood or drought DRR measures can have (unintended) positive or negative impacts on risk of the opposite hazard; and (b) how flood or drought DRR measures can be negatively impacted by the opposite hazard. We focus on dikes and levees, dams, stormwater control and upstream measures, subsurface storage, migration, agricultural practices, and vulnerability and preparedness. We identify key challenges for moving towards a more holistic risk management approach.
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