Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers

W. W. Immerzeel; A. F. Lutz; M. Andrade; A. Bahl; H. Biemans; T. Bolch; S. Brumby; B. J.  Davies; S. Hyde; A. C. Elmore; A. Emmer; M. Feng; A. Fernández; U. Haritashya; J. S. Kargel; M. Koppes; P. D. A. Kraaijenbrink; A. V. Kulkarni; P. 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. Brumby, B. J. Davies, S. Hyde, A. C. Elmore, A. Emmer, M. Feng, A. Fernández, U. Haritashya, J. S. Kargel, M. Koppes, P. D. A. Kraaijenbrink, A. V. Kulkarni, P. 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

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, which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each 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 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) mountain 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
Journal	Nature
Volume	577
Issue number	7790
Early online date	9 Dec 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y
Publication status	Published - 16 Jan 2020

Keywords

Mountains
hydrology

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10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

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Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2019. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y
Accepted author manuscript, 44.5 MB

Supplementary data to: Importance and vulnerability of the world's water towers
Immerzeel, W. W. (Creator), Lutz, A. F. (Creator), Andrade, M. (Creator), Bahl, A. (Creator), Biemans, H. (Creator), Bolch, T. (Creator), Brumby, S. (Creator), Davies, B. J. (Creator), Hyde, S. (Creator), Elmore, A. C. (Creator), Emmer, A. (Creator), Feng, M. (Creator), Fernández, A. (Creator), Haritashya, U. (Creator), Kargel, J. S. (Creator), Koppes, M. (Creator), Kraaijenbrink, P. D. A. (Creator), Kulkarni, A. V. (Creator), Mayewski, P. (Creator), Nepal, S. (Creator), Pacheco, P. (Creator), Painter, T. H. (Creator), Pellicciotti, F. (Creator), Rajaram, H. (Creator), Rupper, S. (Creator), Sinisalo, A. (Creator), Shrestha, A. B. (Creator), Viviroli, D. (Creator), Wada, Y. (Creator), Xiao, C. (Creator), Yao, T. (Creator) & Baillie, J. E. M. (Creator), Zenodo, 2019
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3521933, https://github.com/mountainhydrology/pub_ngs-watertowers
Dataset

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Immerzeel, W. W., Lutz, A. F., Andrade, M., Bahl, A., Biemans, H., Bolch, T., Brumby, S., Davies, B. J., Hyde, S., 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., ... 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

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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, which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each 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 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) mountain areas. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world{\textquoteright}s most important and vulnerable water towers.",

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note = "This project was funded as part of the National Geographic Society and Rolex partnership to support a Perpetual Planet.",

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Immerzeel, WW, Lutz, AF, Andrade, M, Bahl, A, Biemans, H, Bolch, T, Brumby, S, Davies, BJ, Hyde, S, Elmore, AC, Emmer, A, Feng, M, Fernández, A, Haritashya, U, Kargel, JS, Koppes, M, Kraaijenbrink, PDA, Kulkarni, AV, Mayewski, P, 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

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AU - Immerzeel, W. W.

AU - Lutz, A. F.

AU - Andrade, M.

AU - Bahl, A.

AU - Biemans, H.

AU - Bolch, T.

AU - Brumby, S.

AU - Davies, B. J.

AU - Hyde, S.

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.

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 - This project was funded as part of the National Geographic Society and Rolex partnership to support a Perpetual Planet.

PY - 2020/1/16

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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, which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each 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 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) mountain 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, which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each 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 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) mountain areas. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world’s most important and vulnerable water towers.

KW - Mountains

KW - hydrology

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

DO - 10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y

M3 - Article

SN - 1476-4687

VL - 577

SP - 364

EP - 369

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7790

ER -

Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers

Abstract

Keywords

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Supplementary data to: Importance and vulnerability of the world's water towers

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