Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Environ Sci Technol. 2011 Jun 15;45(12):5272-8. doi: 10.1021/es1039634. Epub 2011 May 16.
Human-induced changes in water consumption and global warming are likely to reduce the species richness of freshwater ecosystems. So far, these impacts have not been addressed in the context of life cycle assessment (LCA). Here, we derived characterization factors for water consumption and global warming based on freshwater fish species loss. Calculation of characterization factors for potential freshwater fish losses from water consumption were estimated using a generic species-river discharge curve for 214 global river basins. We also derived characterization factors for potential freshwater fish species losses per unit of greenhouse gas emission. Based on five global climate scenarios, characterization factors for 63 greenhouse gas emissions were calculated. Depending on the river considered, characterization factors for water consumption can differ up to 3 orders of magnitude. Characterization factors for greenhouse gas emissions can vary up to 5 orders of magnitude, depending on the atmospheric residence time and radiative forcing efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions. An emission of 1 ton of CO₂ is expected to cause the same impact on potential fish species disappearance as the water consumption of 10-1000 m³, depending on the river basin considered. Our results make it possible to compare the impact of water consumption with greenhouse gas emissions.
人为引起的耗水量变化和全球变暖可能会降低淡水生态系统的物种丰富度。到目前为止，这些影响在生命周期评估（LCA）的背景下尚未得到解决。在这里，我们根据淡水鱼类物种损失推导了耗水量和全球变暖的特征化因子。使用针对 214 个全球流域的通用物种-河流流量曲线，估算了因耗水而导致潜在淡水鱼类损失的特征化因子。我们还推导了单位温室气体排放量下潜在淡水鱼类物种损失的特征化因子。基于五个全球气候情景，计算了 63 种温室气体排放的特征化因子。根据所考虑的河流，耗水量的特征化因子可能相差 3 个数量级。温室气体排放的特征化因子可能相差 5 个数量级，具体取决于温室气体排放的大气停留时间和辐射强迫效率。根据所考虑的流域，排放 1 吨 CO₂预计会对潜在鱼类物种消失产生与消耗 10-1000 立方米水相同的影响。我们的研究结果使得比较耗水量和温室气体排放的影响成为可能。
