Water use

About: Water use is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 14380 publications have been published within this topic receiving 354262 citations.

Four billion people facing severe water scarcity

Abstract: Freshwater scarcity is increasingly perceived as a global systemic risk. Previous global water scarcity assessments, measuring water scarcity annually, have underestimated experienced water scarcity by failing to capture the seasonal fluctuations in water consumption and availability. We assess blue water scarcity globally at a high spatial resolution on a monthly basis. We find that two-thirds of the global population (4.0 billion people) live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least 1 month of the year. Nearly half of those people live in India and China. Half a billion people in the world face severe water scarcity all year round. Putting caps to water consumption by river basin, increasing water-use efficiencies, and better sharing of the limited freshwater resources will be key in reducing the threat posed by water scarcity on biodiversity and human welfare.

Global Hydrological Cycles and World Water Resources

Abstract: Water is a naturally circulating resource that is constantly recharged. Therefore, even though the stocks of water in natural and artificial reservoirs are helpful to increase the available water resources for human society, the flow of water should be the main focus in water resources assessments. The climate system puts an upper limit on the circulation rate of available renewable freshwater resources (RFWR). Although current global withdrawals are well below the upper limit, more than two billion people live in highly water-stressed areas because of the uneven distribution of RFWR in time and space. Climate change is expected to accelerate water cycles and thereby increase the available RFWR. This would slow down the increase of people living under water stress; however, changes in seasonal patterns and increasing probability of extreme events may offset this effect. Reducing current vulnerability will be the first step to prepare for such anticipated changes.

Yield response to water

Abstract: This publication presents a methodology to quantify yield response to water through aggregate components which form the "handles" to assess crop yields under both adequate and limited water supply. The method presented in part A takes into account maximum and actual crop yields as influenced by water deficits using yield response functions relating relative yield decrease and evapotranspiration deficits. Part B gives an account of water-related crop yield and quality information for 26 crops

Water Relations of Plants and Soils

Abstract: Everyone who grows plants, whether a single geranium in a flower pot or hundreds of acres of corn or cotton, is aware of the importance of water for successful growth. Water supply not only affects the yield of gardens and field crops, but also controls the distribution of plants over the earth's surface, ranging from deserts and grasslands to rain forests, depending on the amount and seasonal distribution of precipitation. However, few people understand 'fully why water is so important for plant growth. This book attempts to explain its importance by showing how water affects the physiological processes that control the quantity and quality of growth. It is a useful introduction for students, teachers, and investigators in both basic and applied plant science, including botanists, crop scientists, foresters, horticulturists, soil scientists, and even gardeners and farmers who desire a better understanding of how their plants grow. An attempt has been made to present the information in terms intelligible to readers with various backgrounds. If the treatment of some topics seems inadequate to specialists in certain fields, they are reminded that the book was not written for specialists, but as an introduction to the broad field of plant water relations. As an aid in this respect, a laboratory manual is available with detailed instructions for some of the more complex methods (J. S. Boyer in "Measuring the Water Status of Plants and Soils," Academic Press, San Diego, 1995).