Keys Patrick W, Porkka Miina, Wang-Erlandsson Lan, Fetzer Ingo, Gleeson Tom, Gordon Line J
School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Colorado State University, USA.
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Water Secur. 2019 Dec;8:100046. doi: 10.1016/j.wasec.2019.100046.
Water security is key to planetary resilience for human society to flourish in the face of global change. Atmospheric moisture recycling - the process of water evaporating from land, flowing through the atmosphere, and falling out again as precipitation over land - is the invisible mechanism by which water influences resilience, that is the capacity to persist, adapt, and transform. Through land-use change, mainly by agricultural expansion, humans are destabilizing and modifying moisture recycling and precipitation patterns across the world. Here, we provide an overview of how moisture recycling changes may threaten tropical forests, dryland ecosystems, agriculture production, river flows, and water supplies in megacities, and review the budding literature that explores possibilities to more consciously manage and govern moisture recycling. Novel concepts such as the precipitationshed allows for the source region of precipitation to be understood, addressed and incorporated in existing water resources tools and sustainability frameworks. We conclude that achieving water security and resilience requires that we understand the implications of human influence on moisture recycling, and that new research is paving the way for future possibilities to manage and mitigate potentially catastrophic effects of land use and water system change.
水安全是人类社会在全球变化面前蓬勃发展的地球恢复力的关键。大气水分循环——水从陆地蒸发、流经大气并再次以降水形式落到陆地上的过程——是水影响恢复力的无形机制，恢复力即持续、适应和转变的能力。通过土地利用变化，主要是农业扩张，人类正在破坏并改变全球的水分循环和降水模式。在此，我们概述了水分循环变化如何可能威胁热带森林、旱地生态系统、农业生产、河流流量以及大城市的供水，并回顾了探索更有意识地管理和治理水分循环可能性的新兴文献。诸如降水流域等新概念使降水源区得以被理解、处理并纳入现有的水资源工具和可持续性框架。我们得出结论，实现水安全和恢复力要求我们理解人类对水分循环影响的含义，并且新研究正在为未来管理和减轻土地利用及水系统变化潜在灾难性影响的可能性铺平道路。
