Human-induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in China
Abstract Water is indispensable for sustainable socioeconomic development, especially in China’s sandy regions. Despite existing studies in sandy regions, the drivers of changes in total water storage and their potential impacts remain inadequately understood. Here we found a 55.97 billion m³ net lo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02046-1 |
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| author | Runa A Xinliang Pan Liudi Zhu Kelvin T. F. Chan Zhangcai Qin Enliang Guo Yuhai Bao Song Qing Tingwei Cui |
| author_facet | Runa A Xinliang Pan Liudi Zhu Kelvin T. F. Chan Zhangcai Qin Enliang Guo Yuhai Bao Song Qing Tingwei Cui |
| author_sort | Runa A |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Water is indispensable for sustainable socioeconomic development, especially in China’s sandy regions. Despite existing studies in sandy regions, the drivers of changes in total water storage and their potential impacts remain inadequately understood. Here we found a 55.97 billion m³ net loss in total water storage from 2002 to 2023 by integrating multiple datasets. Water loss was primarily attributed to increased farmland irrigation (49.56 billion m³) and ecological restoration (37.04 billion m³). In the coming 40 years, water supply capacity will decrease by up to 6.54% and 19.07% under low and high emission scenarios, respectively, requiring reductions in human water consumption of 60% to 135%. This depletion potentially threatens both regional sustainability and national ecological security. This study calls for urgent scientific regulations on water resources, including strict control of local consumption and enhancement of supply capacity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3df71a97b1644315970693f5ab26ca21 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-3df71a97b1644315970693f5ab26ca212025-02-02T12:44:07ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-01-016111010.1038/s43247-025-02046-1Human-induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in ChinaRuna A0Xinliang Pan1Liudi Zhu2Kelvin T. F. Chan3Zhangcai Qin4Enliang Guo5Yuhai Bao6Song Qing7Tingwei Cui8College of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing and GISSchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University & Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Ministry of Education & Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong LaboratorySchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University & Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Ministry of Education & Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong LaboratorySchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University & Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Ministry of Education & Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong LaboratorySchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University & Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Ministry of Education & Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong LaboratoryCollege of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing and GISCollege of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing and GISCollege of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing and GISSchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University & Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Ministry of Education & Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong LaboratoryAbstract Water is indispensable for sustainable socioeconomic development, especially in China’s sandy regions. Despite existing studies in sandy regions, the drivers of changes in total water storage and their potential impacts remain inadequately understood. Here we found a 55.97 billion m³ net loss in total water storage from 2002 to 2023 by integrating multiple datasets. Water loss was primarily attributed to increased farmland irrigation (49.56 billion m³) and ecological restoration (37.04 billion m³). In the coming 40 years, water supply capacity will decrease by up to 6.54% and 19.07% under low and high emission scenarios, respectively, requiring reductions in human water consumption of 60% to 135%. This depletion potentially threatens both regional sustainability and national ecological security. This study calls for urgent scientific regulations on water resources, including strict control of local consumption and enhancement of supply capacity.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02046-1 |
| spellingShingle | Runa A Xinliang Pan Liudi Zhu Kelvin T. F. Chan Zhangcai Qin Enliang Guo Yuhai Bao Song Qing Tingwei Cui Human-induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in China Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Human-induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in China |
| title_full | Human-induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in China |
| title_fullStr | Human-induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Human-induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in China |
| title_short | Human-induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in China |
| title_sort | human induced water loss potentially threatens sustainable development of sandy regions in china |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02046-1 |
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