Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations
Abstract Water is crucial for meeting sustainability targets, but its unsustainable use threatens human wellbeing and the environment. Past assessments of water scarcity (i.e., water demand in exceedance of availability) have often been spatially coarse and temporally limited, reducing their utility...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56022-6 |
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| author | Qinyu Deng Tyler Sharretts Tariq Ali Yufei Zoe Ao Davide Danilo Chiarelli Betelhem Demeke Landon Marston Piyush Mehta Mesfin Mekonnen Maria Cristina Rulli Marta Tuninetti Wei Xie Kyle Frankel Davis |
| author_facet | Qinyu Deng Tyler Sharretts Tariq Ali Yufei Zoe Ao Davide Danilo Chiarelli Betelhem Demeke Landon Marston Piyush Mehta Mesfin Mekonnen Maria Cristina Rulli Marta Tuninetti Wei Xie Kyle Frankel Davis |
| author_sort | Qinyu Deng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Water is crucial for meeting sustainability targets, but its unsustainable use threatens human wellbeing and the environment. Past assessments of water scarcity (i.e., water demand in exceedance of availability) have often been spatially coarse and temporally limited, reducing their utility for targeting interventions. Here we perform a detailed monthly sub-basin assessment of the evolution of blue (i.e., surface and ground) water scarcity (years 1980-2015) for the world’s three most populous countries – China, India, and the USA. Disaggregating by specific crops and sectors, we find that blue water demand rose by 60% (China), 71% (India), and 27% (USA), dominated by irrigation for a few key crops (alfalfa, maize, rice, wheat). We also find that unsustainable demand during peak months of use has increased by 101% (China), 82% (India), and 49% (USA) and that 32% (China), 61% (India), and 27% (US) of sub-basins experience at least 4 months of scarcity. These findings demonstrate that rising water demands are disproportionately being met by water resources in already stressed regions and provide a basis for targeting potential solutions that better balance the water needs of humanity and nature. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-568735812b4148c5b8b9b6158ccff362 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-568735812b4148c5b8b9b6158ccff3622025-02-02T12:31:47ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111410.1038/s41467-025-56022-6Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nationsQinyu Deng0Tyler Sharretts1Tariq Ali2Yufei Zoe Ao3Davide Danilo Chiarelli4Betelhem Demeke5Landon Marston6Piyush Mehta7Mesfin Mekonnen8Maria Cristina Rulli9Marta Tuninetti10Wei Xie11Kyle Frankel Davis12School of National Safety and Emergency Management, Beijing Normal UniversityDepartment of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of DelawareSchool of Economics and Management, Jiangxi Agricultural UniversityDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di MilanoDepartment of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, University of AlabamaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of DelawareDepartment of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, University of AlabamaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di MilanoDepartment of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di TorinoChina Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking UniversityDepartment of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of DelawareAbstract Water is crucial for meeting sustainability targets, but its unsustainable use threatens human wellbeing and the environment. Past assessments of water scarcity (i.e., water demand in exceedance of availability) have often been spatially coarse and temporally limited, reducing their utility for targeting interventions. Here we perform a detailed monthly sub-basin assessment of the evolution of blue (i.e., surface and ground) water scarcity (years 1980-2015) for the world’s three most populous countries – China, India, and the USA. Disaggregating by specific crops and sectors, we find that blue water demand rose by 60% (China), 71% (India), and 27% (USA), dominated by irrigation for a few key crops (alfalfa, maize, rice, wheat). We also find that unsustainable demand during peak months of use has increased by 101% (China), 82% (India), and 49% (USA) and that 32% (China), 61% (India), and 27% (US) of sub-basins experience at least 4 months of scarcity. These findings demonstrate that rising water demands are disproportionately being met by water resources in already stressed regions and provide a basis for targeting potential solutions that better balance the water needs of humanity and nature.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56022-6 |
| spellingShingle | Qinyu Deng Tyler Sharretts Tariq Ali Yufei Zoe Ao Davide Danilo Chiarelli Betelhem Demeke Landon Marston Piyush Mehta Mesfin Mekonnen Maria Cristina Rulli Marta Tuninetti Wei Xie Kyle Frankel Davis Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations Nature Communications |
| title | Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations |
| title_full | Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations |
| title_fullStr | Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations |
| title_short | Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations |
| title_sort | deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56022-6 |
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