Journal ArticleDOI
A global boom in hydropower dam construction
Christiane Zarfl,Christiane Zarfl,Alexander E. Lumsdon,Alexander E. Lumsdon,Jürgen Berlekamp,Laura Tydecks,Klement Tockner,Klement Tockner +7 more
TLDR
In this article, major new initiatives in hydropower development are now under way, and at least 3,700 major dams, each with a capacity of more than 1MW, are either planned or under construction, primarily in countries with emerging economies.Abstract:
Human population growth, economic development, climate change, and the need to close the electricity access gap have stimulated the search for new sources of renewable energy. In response to this need, major new initiatives in hydropower development are now under way. At least 3,700 major dams, each with a capacity of more than 1 MW, are either planned or under construction, primarily in countries with emerging economies. These dams are predicted to increase the present global hydroelectricity capacity by 73 % to about 1,700 GW. Even such a dramatic expansion in hydropower capacity will be insufficient to compensate for the increasing electricity demand. Furthermore, it will only partially close the electricity gap, may not substantially reduce greenhouse gas emission (carbon dioxide and methane), and may not erase interdependencies and social conflicts. At the same time, it is certain to reduce the number of our planet’s remaining free-flowing large rivers by about 21 %. Clearly, there is an urgent need to evaluate and to mitigate the social, economic, and ecological ramifications of the current boom in global dam construction.read more
Citations
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Emerging threats and persistent conservation challenges for freshwater biodiversity
Andrea J. Reid,Andrew K. Carlson,Irena F. Creed,Erika J. Eliason,Peter Gell,Pieter T. J. Johnson,Karen A. Kidd,Tyson J. MacCormack,Julian D. Olden,Steve J. Ormerod,John P. Smol,William W. Taylor,Klement Tockner,Jesse C. Vermaire,David Dudgeon,Steven J. Cooke +15 more
TL;DR: Efforts to reverse global trends in freshwater degradation now depend on bridging an immense gap between the aspirations of conservation biologists and the accelerating rate of species endangerment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers
Günther Grill,Bernhard Lehner,Michele Thieme,B. Geenen,David Tickner,F. Antonelli,S. Babu,Pasquale Borrelli,L. Cheng,H. Crochetiere,H. Ehalt Macedo,R. Filgueiras,M. Goichot,Jonathan V. Higgins,Zeb S. Hogan,B. Lip,Michael E. McClain,J. Meng,Mark Mulligan,Christer Nilsson,Christer Nilsson,Julian D. Olden,Jeffrey J. Opperman,Paulo Petry,Paulo Petry,C. Reidy Liermann,Leonardo Sáenz,Leonardo Sáenz,S. Salinas-Rodriguez,P. Schelle,Rafael Schmitt,J. Snider,Florence Tan,Klement Tockner,Klement Tockner,Paula Hanna Valdujo,A. van Soesbergen,Christiane Zarfl +37 more
TL;DR: A comprehensive assessment of the world’s rivers and their connectivity shows that only 37 per cent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres remain free-flowing over their entire length.
Journal ArticleDOI
Balancing hydropower and biodiversity in the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong
Kirk O. Winemiller,Peter B. McIntyre,Leandro Castello,Etienne Fluet-Chouinard,Tommaso Giarrizzo,S Nam,Ian G. Baird,William Darwall,Nathan K. Lujan,Ian Harrison,Melanie L. J. Stiassny,Renato A. M. Silvano,Daniel B. Fitzgerald,Fernando Mayer Pelicice,Angelo Antonio Agostinho,Luiz Carlos Gomes,James S. Albert,Eric Baran,Miguel Petrere,Christiane Zarfl,Mark Mulligan,John P. Sullivan,Caroline C. Arantes,Leandro M. Sousa,Aaron A. Koning,David J. Hoeinghaus,Mark H. Sabaj,John G. Lundberg,Jonathan W. Armbruster,Michele Thieme,Paulo Petry,Jansen Zuanon,G. Torrente Vilara,Jos Snoeks,C Ou,W Rainboth,Carla Simone Pavanelli,Alberto Akama,A. van Soesbergen,Leonardo Sáenz +39 more
TL;DR: To achieve true sustainability, assessments of new projects must go beyond local impacts by accounting for synergies with existing dams, as well as land cover changes and likely climatic shifts, and call for more sophisticated and holistic hydropower planning.
Journal ArticleDOI
Emerging trends in global freshwater availability.
Matthew Rodell,James S. Famiglietti,James S. Famiglietti,David N. Wiese,John T. Reager,Hiroko Kato Beaudoing,Hiroko Kato Beaudoing,Felix W. Landerer,Min-Hui Lo +8 more
TL;DR: Analysis of 2002–2016 GRACE satellite observations of terrestrial water storage reveals substantial changes in freshwater resources globally, which are driven by natural and anthropogenic climate variability and human activities.
References
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Charles J. Vörösmarty,Peter B. McIntyre,Peter B. McIntyre,Mark O. Gessner,David Dudgeon,Alexander A. Prusevich,Pamela A. Green,Stanley Glidden,Stuart E. Bunn,Caroline A Sullivan,C. Reidy Liermann,Peter Davies +11 more
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Robert Costanza,Rudolph de Groot,Paul C. Sutton,Paul C. Sutton,Sander van der Ploeg,Sharolyn Anderson,Ida Kubiszewski,Stephen Farber,R. Kerry Turner +8 more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Fragmentation and flow regulation of the world's large river systems
Christer Nilsson,Christer Nilsson,Catherine A. Reidy,Catherine A. Reidy,Mats Dynesius,Mats Dynesius,Carmen Revenga,Carmen Revenga +7 more
TL;DR: A global overview of dam-based impacts on large river systems shows that over half (172 out of 292) are affected by dams, including the eight most biogeographically diverse catchments, which can be used to identify ecological risks associated with further impacts onLarge river systems.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global carbon dioxide emissions from inland waters
Peter A. Raymond,Jens Hartmann,Ronny Lauerwald,Ronny Lauerwald,Sebastian Sobek,Cory P. McDonald,Mark Hoover,David Butman,David Butman,Robert G. Striegl,Emilio Mayorga,Christoph Humborg,Pirkko Kortelainen,Hans H. Dürr,Michel Meybeck,Philippe Ciais,Peter L. Guth +16 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report regional variations in global inland water surface area, dissolved CO2 and gas transfer velocity, and obtain global CO2 evasion rates of 1.8(-0.25) and 0.52 Pg C yr(-1) from lakes and reservoirs, where the upper and lower limits are respectively the 5th and 95th confidence interval percentiles.