A new study has mapped 35 years of river changes on a global scale. The work has revealed significant effects on both downstream (44% decrease in water flow) and upstream (17% flow increase) rivers, including flooding, ecosystem disruption, hydropower development interference and insufficient fresh water supplies.
Floods , insufficient water, sinking river deltas: Hydrologists map changing river landscapes across the globeA new study has mapped 35 years of river changes on a global scale. The work has revealed significant effects on both downstream and upstream rivers, including flooding, ecosystem disruption, hydropower development interference and insufficient fresh water supplies.
River flow rate, also known as discharge, describes how much water flows through a river, measured in cubic meters per second or gallons per day. Currently, flow rate is measured by manually dragging a tool across the surface of a river and then combining it with another automatic measurement of river depth to calculate flow rate over time. Because this approach and only measures flow rate at a specific location, at a specific time, data on flow rates are extremely limited.
The significant decreases found in downstream rivers mean that less fresh water is available on the largest parts of many rivers worldwide. This has significant impacts on drinking water and irrigation. Smaller, upstream rivers are showing an inverse pattern: 17% are seeing an increase in flow. This increase in volume in these small rivers can have big impacts on their surrounding communities. The researchers found a 42% increase in large floods of these small streams. Gleason cites those that have occurred in Vermont in recent summers as an example.
While the paper cannot quantify the exact cause and effect, the researchers know that the general drivers of these changes are largely climate change and human activity."Upstream river regions have increasing precipitation in general," says Feng."And the snow melt in the high elevation, which is typically cold, is probably more sensitive to climate change, so the snow melt has been increasing in these regions.
Floods Geography Global Warming Early Climate Human Evolution Early Humans Anthropology
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