1182. Human-Caused Shifts in the Global Water Cycle

In a recently published paper, NASA scientists used nearly 20 years of observational data to confirm that anthropogenic influences in the global water cycle are more significant than previously thought. Scientists collected remote sensing data on global precipitation, soil moisture datasets, terrestrial water cycles, and vegetation over the period from 2003 to 2020, suggesting that most of the changes were caused by activities such as agriculture, which may be affecting ecosystems and water management.

The paper focused on three different changes in the water cycle. First, changes such as the declining groundwater levels; second, seasonal changes like the earlier growth period of crops and snowmelt; and third, changes in the frequency of extreme events such as "100-year floods."

These changes also affect assumptions about the water cycle when planning water management, such as infrastructure design for flooding and the development of drought indicators for early warning systems. The results suggest that Earth system models used to simulate the future global water cycle should integrate the ongoing impacts of anthropogenic activities.

Reference 
Wanshu Nie et al, Nonstationarity in the global terrestrial water cycle and its interlinkages in the Anthropocene, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2403707121　https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2403707121　

Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki, Information Program