Irrigation effects on hydro-climatic change : Basin-wise water balance-constrained quantification and cross-regional comparison

• Hydro-climatic changes driven by human land and water use, including water use for irrigation, may be difficult to distinguish fromthe effects of global, natural and anthropogenic climate change. This paper quantifies and compares the hydro-climatic change effects ofirrigation using a data-driven, basin-wise quantification approach in two different irrigated world regions: the Aral Sea drainage basinin Central Asia, and the Indian Mahanadi River Basin draining into the Bay of Bengal. Results show that irrigation-driven changesin evapotranspiration and latent heat fluxes and associated temperature changes at the land surface may be greater in regions withsmall relative irrigation impacts on water availability in the landscape (here represented by the MRB) than in regions with severe suchimpacts (here represented by the Aral region). Different perspectives on the continental part of Earth’s hydrological cycle may thus implydifferent importance assessment of various drivers and impacts of hydro-climatic change. Regardless of perspective, however, actualbasin-wise water balance constraints should be accounted to realistically understand and accurately quantify continental water change.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Klimatforskning (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Climate Research (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Naturgeografi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Physical Geography (hsv//eng)

Keyword

hydro-climatic change

irrigation

evapotranspiration

surface temperature

hydrological cycle

hydrological catchment

Aral Sea

India

Physical Geography

naturgeografi

Publication and Content Type

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