Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers

W. W. Immerzeel; A. F. Lutz; M. Andrade; A. Bahl; H. Biemans; T. Bolch; S. Hyde; S. Brumby; B. J. Davies; A. C. Elmore; A. Emmer; M. Feng; A. Fernández; U. Haritashya; J. S. Kargel; M. Koppes; P. D.A. Kraaijenbrink; A. V. Kulkarni; P. A. Mayewski; S. Nepal; P. Pacheco; T. H. Painter; F. Pellicciotti; H. Rajaram; S. Rupper; A. Sinisalo; A. B. Shrestha; D. Viviroli; Y. Wada; C. Xiao; T. Yao; J. E.M. Baillie

doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers

W. W. Immerzeel^*, A. F. Lutz, M. Andrade, A. Bahl, H. Biemans, T. Bolch, S. Hyde, S. Brumby, B. J. Davies, A. C. Elmore, A. Emmer, M. Feng, A. Fernández, U. Haritashya, J. S. Kargel, M. Koppes, P. D.A. Kraaijenbrink, A. V. Kulkarni, P. A. Mayewski, S. NepalP. Pacheco, T. H. Painter, F. Pellicciotti, H. Rajaram, S. Rupper, A. Sinisalo, A. B. Shrestha, D. Viviroli, Y. Wada, C. Xiao, T. Yao, J. E.M. Baillie

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Mountains are the water towers of the world, supplying a substantial part of both natural and anthropogenic water demands^1,2. They are highly sensitive and prone to climate change^3,4, yet their importance and vulnerability have not been quantified at the global scale. Here we present a global water tower index (WTI), which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each water tower, we assess its vulnerability related to water stress, governance, hydropolitical tension and future climatic and socio-economic changes. We conclude that the most important (highest WTI) water towers are also among the most vulnerable, and that climatic and socio-economic changes will affect them profoundly. This could negatively impact 1.9 billion people living in (0.3 billion) or directly downstream of (1.6 billion) mountainous areas. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world’s most important and vulnerable water towers.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	364-369
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature
Volume	577
Issue number	7790
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y
Publication status	Published - 16 Jan 2020
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

Cite this

Immerzeel, W. W., Lutz, A. F., Andrade, M., Bahl, A., Biemans, H., Bolch, T., Hyde, S., Brumby, S., Davies, B. J., Elmore, A. C., Emmer, A., Feng, M., Fernández, A., Haritashya, U., Kargel, J. S., Koppes, M., Kraaijenbrink, P. D. A., Kulkarni, A. V., Mayewski, P. A., ... Baillie, J. E. M. (2020). Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers. Nature , 577(7790), 364-369. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

Immerzeel, WW, Lutz, AF, Andrade, M, Bahl, A, Biemans, H, Bolch, T, Hyde, S, Brumby, S, Davies, BJ, Elmore, AC, Emmer, A, Feng, M, Fernández, A, Haritashya, U, Kargel, JS, Koppes, M, Kraaijenbrink, PDA, Kulkarni, AV, Mayewski, PA, Nepal, S, Pacheco, P, Painter, TH, Pellicciotti, F, Rajaram, H, Rupper, S, Sinisalo, A, Shrestha, AB, Viviroli, D, Wada, Y, Xiao, C, Yao, T & Baillie, JEM 2020, 'Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers', Nature , vol. 577, no. 7790, pp. 364-369. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

@article{8096ac54eb0544999817f3c11a89bf88,

title = "Importance and vulnerability of the world{\textquoteright}s water towers",

abstract = "Mountains are the water towers of the world, supplying a substantial part of both natural and anthropogenic water demands1,2. They are highly sensitive and prone to climate change3,4, yet their importance and vulnerability have not been quantified at the global scale. Here we present a global water tower index (WTI), which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each water tower, we assess its vulnerability related to water stress, governance, hydropolitical tension and future climatic and socio-economic changes. We conclude that the most important (highest WTI) water towers are also among the most vulnerable, and that climatic and socio-economic changes will affect them profoundly. This could negatively impact 1.9 billion people living in (0.3 billion) or directly downstream of (1.6 billion) mountainous areas. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world{\textquoteright}s most important and vulnerable water towers.",

author = "Immerzeel, {W. W.} and Lutz, {A. F.} and M. Andrade and A. Bahl and H. Biemans and T. Bolch and S. Hyde and S. Brumby and Davies, {B. J.} and Elmore, {A. C.} and A. Emmer and M. Feng and A. Fern{\'a}ndez and U. Haritashya and Kargel, {J. S.} and M. Koppes and Kraaijenbrink, {P. D.A.} and Kulkarni, {A. V.} and Mayewski, {P. A.} and S. Nepal and P. Pacheco and Painter, {T. H.} and F. Pellicciotti and H. Rajaram and S. Rupper and A. Sinisalo and Shrestha, {A. B.} and D. Viviroli and Y. Wada and C. Xiao and T. Yao and Baillie, {J. E.M.}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements This project was funded as part of the National Geographic Society and Rolex Partnership to Support a Perpetual Planet. We are grateful to the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for their support, to D. Farinotti for providing the data on glacier volume, and to N. Wanders for providing precipitation datasets used in the uncertainty analysis. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2020",

month = jan,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y",

language = "English",

volume = "577",

pages = "364--369",

journal = "Nature ",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "7790",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers

AU - Immerzeel, W. W.

AU - Lutz, A. F.

AU - Andrade, M.

AU - Bahl, A.

AU - Biemans, H.

AU - Bolch, T.

AU - Hyde, S.

AU - Brumby, S.

AU - Davies, B. J.

AU - Elmore, A. C.

AU - Emmer, A.

AU - Feng, M.

AU - Fernández, A.

AU - Haritashya, U.

AU - Kargel, J. S.

AU - Koppes, M.

AU - Kraaijenbrink, P. D.A.

AU - Kulkarni, A. V.

AU - Mayewski, P. A.

AU - Nepal, S.

AU - Pacheco, P.

AU - Painter, T. H.

AU - Pellicciotti, F.

AU - Rajaram, H.

AU - Rupper, S.

AU - Sinisalo, A.

AU - Shrestha, A. B.

AU - Viviroli, D.

AU - Wada, Y.

AU - Xiao, C.

AU - Yao, T.

AU - Baillie, J. E.M.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements This project was funded as part of the National Geographic Society and Rolex Partnership to Support a Perpetual Planet. We are grateful to the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for their support, to D. Farinotti for providing the data on glacier volume, and to N. Wanders for providing precipitation datasets used in the uncertainty analysis. Publisher Copyright: © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

PY - 2020/1/16

Y1 - 2020/1/16

N2 - Mountains are the water towers of the world, supplying a substantial part of both natural and anthropogenic water demands1,2. They are highly sensitive and prone to climate change3,4, yet their importance and vulnerability have not been quantified at the global scale. Here we present a global water tower index (WTI), which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each water tower, we assess its vulnerability related to water stress, governance, hydropolitical tension and future climatic and socio-economic changes. We conclude that the most important (highest WTI) water towers are also among the most vulnerable, and that climatic and socio-economic changes will affect them profoundly. This could negatively impact 1.9 billion people living in (0.3 billion) or directly downstream of (1.6 billion) mountainous areas. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world’s most important and vulnerable water towers.

AB - Mountains are the water towers of the world, supplying a substantial part of both natural and anthropogenic water demands1,2. They are highly sensitive and prone to climate change3,4, yet their importance and vulnerability have not been quantified at the global scale. Here we present a global water tower index (WTI), which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each water tower, we assess its vulnerability related to water stress, governance, hydropolitical tension and future climatic and socio-economic changes. We conclude that the most important (highest WTI) water towers are also among the most vulnerable, and that climatic and socio-economic changes will affect them profoundly. This could negatively impact 1.9 billion people living in (0.3 billion) or directly downstream of (1.6 billion) mountainous areas. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world’s most important and vulnerable water towers.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077591595&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

DO - 10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

M3 - Article

C2 - 31816624

AN - SCOPUS:85077591595

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 577

SP - 364

EP - 369

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7790

ER -

Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this