Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kasia J. Staniszewska, Alberto V. Reyes, Colin A. Cooke
Summary: Mercury concentrations and yields in the Yukon River are the highest among the world's six largest panarctic drainages. Permafrost thaw is considered the main driver of these high values, with glacial erosion and meltwater transport being the primary sources of mercury in suspended sediment.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Staffan Akerblom, Christian Zdanowicz, Audrey Campeau, Anne L. Soerensen, Jack Hewitt
Summary: Arctic rivers deliver about 40 tons of mercury to the Arctic Ocean each year, with 6% coming from the Mackenzie River Basin (MRB). This study analyzed over 500 water quality measurements from 22 rivers in MRB, showing that the mercury pollution in rivers mainly comes from riverbank erosion and thaw slumps in mountainous areas, as well as atmospheric deposition in lowland rivers. The study estimated that the three largest western tributaries of the Mackenzie River contribute significantly to the overall mercury export to the Beaufort Sea during freshet, while the dissolved mercury loads in the lower Mackenzie River have been declining.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Javed Hassan, Xiaoqing Chen, Sher Muhammad, Nazir Ahmed Bazai
Summary: This study compiled the first complete inventory of rock glaciers in the Hunza Basin, western Karakoram, and modeled the probability distribution of permafrost. The analysis showed that destabilized rock glaciers were closely linked to the 0 degrees C isotherm, causing significant damage to infrastructure in the region. Improved policies related to disaster risk reduction and hazard mitigation can be achieved through quantifying rock glacier dynamics and permafrost in the area.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Myunghak Kang, Elliott Skierszkan, Sean Brennan, Diego P. Fernandez, Zhaoping Yang, Isabelle Girard, Paul Gammon, Ghislain de Laplante, Clement P. Bataille
Summary: This study explores the relationship between weathering processes and permafrost cover in the Yukon River basin. The findings reveal different weathering characteristics in different regions, with higher carbonate weathering contribution in glaciated mountainous zones and more significant silicate weathering in floodplains covered by continuous permafrost. The unique history of Pleistocene glaciations in the basin also influences weathering processes. These findings have important implications for future water quality in the warming basin.
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Liudmila Lebedeva, David Gustafsson
Summary: This study estimated the monthly discharge changes of 11 river catchments in the Aldan River basin in Eastern Siberia, finding that longer samples tend to show more positive trends, and larger basins have more positive trends than smaller ones. The trends in monthly streamflow have prominent seasonality, with no positive trends in June and an increasing fraction of positive trends from October to April.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Wenxian Guo, Fengtian Hong, Baoliang Wang, Weiqi Yuan, Gaozhen Wang, Siyuan Cheng, Hongxiang Wang
Summary: This study assesses the impact of human disturbance and climate change on ecological flow in the Xiangjiang River basin, and finds that changes in river flow lead to a decrease in riverine biodiversity.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Water Resources
Papa Malick Ndiaye, Ansoumana Bodian, Lamine Diop, Alain Dezetter, Etienne Guilpart, Abdoulaye Deme, Andrew Ogilvie
Summary: This study evaluated the trends of reference evapotranspiration (ET0) in the Senegal River Basin, finding that regional climate models (RCMs) were more robust than global circulation models (GCMs). ET0 was found to be more sensitive to relative humidity, maximum temperature, and solar radiation, with significant increases projected in ET0, maximum and minimum temperatures in the period 2036-2065.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY-REGIONAL STUDIES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Zihan Gui, Xiaohong Chen, Yanhu He
Summary: This study proposes an assessment framework to evaluate water resources system vulnerability in the Lancang River Basin and reveals an increasing trend in sensitivity and exposure, while adaptive capacity is decreasing. The vulnerability gradient shows from high to low from southeast to northwest, with Dali region being the most vulnerable area. The study provides useful information for improving adaptation and resilience of the water resources system in the face of climate-related threats.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
S. Ansa Thasneem, Santosh G. Thampi, N. R. Chithra
Summary: A large portion of India's annual rainfall occurs during the monsoon season, including the Chaliyar River Basin in Kerala. There is evidence suggesting that human activities contribute to climate change worldwide. The accuracy of future climate projections is limited by uncertainties from various sources, including climate models, hydrological models, and representative concentration pathways. The study finds that the main source of uncertainty in predicting future monsoon flow is from climate models, accounting for 83.73% of the total uncertainty. Evaluating these uncertainties can inform future water management strategies.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zheng Mu, Guanpeng Liu, Shuai Lin, Jingjing Fan, Tianling Qin, Yunyun Li, Yao Cheng, Bin Zhou
Summary: This article examines the impact of climate change and human activities on water resources in the Weihe River Basin. Using a method to separate surface runoff and base flow, the study quantifies their respective contributions. The results show that climate change primarily affects surface runoff, while human activities have a greater impact on base flow.
Article
Water Resources
Jiachang Chen, Xingxing Kuang, Michele Lancia, Yingying Yao, Chunmiao Zheng
Summary: The study focused on the hydrological processes in the Lhasa River Basin on the Tibetan Plateau in response to climate warming. Groundwater recharge is influenced by precipitation and glacier meltwater, with the baseflow showing an increasing trend under different future climate change scenarios. The study highlights the importance of understanding groundwater dynamics in alpine headwater regions for water resource management in a changing climate.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY-REGIONAL STUDIES
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Xinru Wang, Huijuan Cui
Summary: This study used an entropy-based method to evaluate the impact of climate change on ecological flow in the Yellow River basin, and found that the future flow in the basin will increase. Most stations will not be threatened or will face minimal threat to future ecological flow, but there may be water stress at the Tangnaihai station in the upper stream of the Yellow River in the future.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ping Wang, Qiwei Huang, Sergey P. Pozdniakov, Shiqi Liu, Ning Ma, Tianye Wang, Yongqiang Zhang, Jingjie Yu, Jiaxin Xie, Guobin Fu, Natalia L. Frolova, Changming Liu
Summary: The sensitivity of streamflow to climate change and permafrost thawing in Siberia remains not well understood. Using the Budyko framework and superposition principles, researchers found that the streamflow of the Ob, Yenisei, and Lena rivers have increased over the past 84 years, with precipitation induced by warming climate being a major contributing factor. However, winter streamflow is particularly sensitive to temperature, with rising temperatures potentially increasing groundwater discharge due to permafrost thawing.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Pengcheng Qin, Hongmei Xu, Min Liu, Luliu Liu, Chan Xiao, Iman Mallakpour, Matin Rahnamay Naeini, Kuolin Hsu, Soroosh Sorooshian
Summary: This study assesses the impacts of climate change on major dams in the Upper Yangtze River Basin. The findings reveal that dam inflow will increase, hydropower generation will increase with greater interannual variability, and flood events will become more frequent and severe in the future. Additionally, the regulation function of dams will strengthen in the flood season and weaken in the dry season.
Article
Water Resources
Ebrahim Ghaderpour, Tijana Vujadinovic, Quazi K. Hassan
Summary: The study focused on understanding historical streamflow variability in the Athabasca River Basin in Alberta, Canada, and the impact of climate change on streamflow over time using Least-Squares Wavelet software. The results showed that the seasonal components of discharge and precipitation time series were coherent with phase discrepancy, and mean temperature has been gradually increasing since 1960, projected to further increase by 2 degrees C during the mid-century. Spectral peaks and trend jumps in the streamflow time series suggest an increase in blue water during the midcentury, especially in the early 2030s. The study highlighted the potential of LSWAVE in analyzing climate and hydrological time series without the need for interpolation, gap-filling, or de-spiking.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY-REGIONAL STUDIES
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hanna N. Kreplin, Carla Sofia Santos Ferreira, Georgia Destouni, Saskia D. Keesstra, Luca Salvati, Zahra Kalantari
Summary: Arctic wetlands are impacted by warming and hydrological changes, with key factors being permafrost thaw and concurrent hydrological changes leading to shrinkage and expansion of wetland areas. Various factors interact with warming, hydrological changes, and permafrost thaw in altering the Arctic wetland systems, ultimately affecting the global carbon cycle.
WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-WATER
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Nandita B. Basu, Kimberly J. Van Meter, Danyka K. Byrnes, Philippe Van Cappellen, Roy Brouwer, Brian H. Jacobsen, Jerker Jarsjo, David L. Rudolph, Maria C. Cunha, Natalie Nelson, Ruchi Bhattacharya, Georgia Destouni, Soren Boye Olsen
Summary: Agricultural nitrogen legacies are causing delays in improving water quality, highlighting the need for comprehensive management strategies to address these issues and ensure better environmental outcomes.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Carla S. S. Ferreira, Samaneh Seifollahi-Aghmiuni, Georgia Destouni, Navid Ghajarnia, Zahra Kalantari
Summary: This paper examines the issue of soil degradation in the European Mediterranean region, highlighting the importance of soil resources and the current challenges they face. Suggestions are made for establishing a soil monitoring system to support decision making and achieve sustainable development goals.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Guillaume Vigouroux, Georgia Destouni
Summary: Coastal eutrophication is a significant global issue, including in the Baltic Sea, and effective management responses require a good understanding of the various interacting pressures and impacts. This study reviewed the existing research on Baltic coastal eutrophication and found that there is a focus on pressures and impacts, but less on characterizing the eutrophication itself. Furthermore, research on the interactions between land, coast, and sea is limited.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Imenne Ahlen, Josefin Thorslund, Peter Hamback, Georgia Destouni, Jerker Jarsjo
Summary: This study investigated the differences in water storage dynamics between wetlands within the same wetlandscape. The researchers found that wetlands in different positions exhibit two distinct storage behaviors. Headwater wetlands are able to store excess water to buffer floods, while downstream wetlands experience seasonal low water levels. The study also revealed that headwater wetlands have complex and patchy inundation patterns, while downstream wetlands are characterized by prolonged low-water states.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Elisie Karesdotter, Georgia Destouni, Navid Ghajarnia, Richard B. Lammers, Zahra Kalantari
Summary: Population growth puts pressure on water resource availability. This study uses a water balance model to quantify the impact of human activities and climate change on different water variables globally. The results show significant variations in the effects of human activities across different regions.
Article
Water Resources
Davood Moshir Panahi, Georgia Destouni, Zahra Kalantari, Bagher Zahabiyoun
Summary: This study examined the decline of wetlands in Iran and found that non-climatic factors, particularly changes in land use and land cover, had a greater impact than climate change. The analysis also revealed that the increase in evapotranspiration and decrease in runoff were the main drivers of wetland decline.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY-REGIONAL STUDIES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Chaozi Wang, Geng Liu, Coy P. McNew, Till Hannes Moritz Volkmann, Luke Pangle, Peter A. Troch, Steven W. Lyon, Minseok Kim, Zailin Huo, Helen E. Dahlke
Summary: By conducting experiments and simulations, the movement and transport mechanisms of free synthetic DNA tracers in hydrological systems have been revealed. It has been found that free DNA can be used to trace vadose zone water flow and solute/contaminant transport.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Shannon Pace, James M. Hood, Heather Raymond, Brigitte Moneymaker, Steve W. Lyon
Summary: New technologies enable real-time monitoring of nutrients in water systems, providing valuable insights for water management and achieving water quality goals.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jacopo Cantoni, Zahra Kalantari, Georgia Destouni
Summary: Legacy pollutants are identified as dominant contributors to water pollution in Sweden, including total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total organic carbon. The relationship between legacy concentrations of these pollutants and land use is tested and supported by catchment data. The data-driven approach of this study provides a useful tool for pollution mitigation and should be further tested for other chemicals worldwide.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Y. Ma, Z. Kalantari, G. Destouni
Summary: The climate sensitivity of infectious diseases is widely discussed, but there is a lack of quantitative basis for distinguishing and predicting their disease impacts. This study applies a scoping review approach to Lyme disease and cryptosporidiosis to assess research effort and identify key gaps. The research reveals important gaps in the roles of water-related and socioeconomic factors for Lyme disease, and land-related factors for cryptosporidiosis. Additionally, the interactions between host and parasite communities with climate and other driver-pressure factors are understudied, and there is a lack of research in Asia and Africa for Lyme disease and cryptosporidiosis, respectively.
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
Ehsan Foroumandi, Hamid Moradkhani, Xavier Sanchez-Vila, Kamini Singha, Andrea Castelletti, Georgia Destouni
Summary: The emergence of large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, has attracted significant attention in academic and scientific circles. While ChatGPT holds promise for research and teaching purposes, there are also limitations and potential risks associated with its use. The article suggests that the academic community should adapt regulations and policies to harness the benefits of LLMs while mitigating their pitfalls.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Wantong Li, Markus Reichstein, O. Sungmin, Carla May, Georgia Destouni, Mirco Migliavacca, Basil Kraft, Ulrich Weber, Rene Orth
Summary: Drought intensity and duration have increased in many regions recently. However, global understanding of the propagation of drought-induced water deficits through the terrestrial water cycle remains limited. In this study, the authors used machine learning-assisted upscaling of satellite and in-situ observations to analyze the response of evaporation and runoff to soil moisture droughts. They found that evaporation and runoff show contrasting responses in different climate regimes, with runoff strongly reduced in wet regions while evaporation is decoupled from soil moisture decreases and enhanced by sunny and warm weather. In drier regions, evaporation is reduced during droughts due to vegetation water stress, but runoff is largely unchanged due to low precipitation deficits and buffering from decreased evaporation.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mahdi Panahi, Khabat Khosravi, Fatemeh Rezaie, Carla S. S. Ferreira, Georgia Destouni, Zahra Kalantari
Summary: Flooding is a serious natural hazard that affects human life, property, and the environment. This study developed a deep learning approach for large-scale flood modeling in Sweden, using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and optimized versions combined with the Gray Wolf Optimizer (GWO) or the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA). The results show high flood susceptibility in certain areas, with aspect being the most influential factor.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Daniel Althoff, Georgia Destouni
Summary: This research demonstrates that the green water flux is generally greater than the blue water flux. Expanding agricultural land and irrigation will result in more blue water being converted into green water, exacerbating the vulnerability of blue water to future climate change. These findings are crucial for guiding land-use planning to balance freshwater needs.
