This highlights the important need for immediate action to protect vital freshwater resources.New research suggests that the around the world freshwater cycle has undergone significant changes, moving well away from the conditions observed prior to industrialization.A recent study taking a look at international freshwater resources exposes that human actions have considerably changed the planets freshwater cycle, causing variations that far go beyond the conditions prior to industrialization. Using an approach thats constant and similar across hydrological variables and geographical scales is essential for understanding the biophysical processes and human actions that drive the changes were seeing in freshwater, explains Miina Porkka, who co-led the research study at Aalto before moving to the University of Eastern Finland.With this extensive view of the changes in streamflow and soil wetness, scientists are better equipped to examine the causes and effects of the changes in the freshwater cycle. Understanding these dynamics in higher information might help assist policies to mitigate the resulting harm– however our instant concern must be to decrease human-driven pressures on freshwater systems, which are crucial to life on Earth, states Aaltos Associate Professor Matti Kummu, senior author of the study.Reference: “Notable shifts beyond pre-industrial streamflow and soil moisture conditions transgress the planetary limit for freshwater change” by Miina Porkka, Vili Virkki, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Dieter Gerten, Tom Gleeson, Chinchu Mohan, Ingo Fetzer, Fernando Jaramillo, Arie Staal, Sofie te Wierik, Arne Tobian, Ruud van der Ent, Petra Döll, Martina Flörke, Simon N. Gosling, Naota Hanasaki, Yusuke Satoh, Hannes Müller Schmied, Niko Wanders, James S. Famiglietti, Johan Rockström and Matti Kummu, 4 March 2024, Nature Water.DOI: 10.1038/ s44221-024-00208-7.
