Defining freshwater boundaries for safe and just Earth system limits
WHAT ARE THE EARTH SYSTEM BOUNDARIES FOR FRESHWATER?
The Earth system boundaries (ESB) for freshwater focus on maintaining the stability and resilience of freshwater systems within safe and just limits. They involve quantifying the maximum allowable human alterations to surface water and groundwater (blue water) to ensure sustainable management and equitable access, while protecting aquatic ecosystems and ensuring that basic human water needs are met globally.
My role in this project was to develop the planetary freshwater boundaries for surface water and identify populations living outside the freshwater ESBs. Outcomes have been publish in Nature and Nature Sustainability.
CONTRIBUTIONS
- Developed altered and environmental flow global spatial indicators to define Earth System Boundaries for surface water.
- Quantified populations living with surface water deficits, declining groundwater recharge, and outside the surface water ESB.
- Employed water balance models and multi-year TerraClimate time series datasets for river network analysis.
- Authored and executed Python code for robust spatial analysis, spatial statistics, and managing complex global datasets.
- Engaged with Working Group 3 of the Earth Commission, demonstrating the ability to work collaboratively across disciplines for impactful research.
PRODUCTS
Code and Data:
Green, P. A. (2023). Living within the safe and just Earth system boundaries for blue water – Surface Water Hydrology. In Nature Sustainability (v1.0.1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8343035
Green, P. A. (2023). Safe and Just Earth Systems Boundaries for Surface Water: Hydrologic Alteration of Environmental Flows (v0.2.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7674802
LinkedIn posts:
“Living within safe and just Earth systems boundaries for blue water..”
Publications:
Stewart-Koster, Ben, Stuart E. Bunn, Pamela Green, et al. “Living within the Safe and Just Earth System Boundaries for Blue Water.” Nature Sustainability, November 16, 2023, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01247-w.
Rockström, J., Gupta, J., Qin, D. et al. Safe and just Earth system boundaries. Nature 619, 102–111 (2023). https://doi-org.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/10.1038/s41586-023-06083-8