气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Global unsustainable virtual water flows in agricultural trade

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DOI	10.1088/1748-9326/ab4bfc
	Global unsustainable virtual water flows in agricultural trade
	Rosa L.; Chiarelli D.D.; Tu C.; Rulli M.C.; D'odorico P.
发表日期	2019
ISSN	17489318
卷号	14 期号:11
英文摘要	Recent studies have highlighted the reliance of global food production on unsustainable irrigation practices, which deplete freshwater stocks and environmental flows, and consequently impair aquatic ecosystems. Unsustainable irrigation is driven by domestic and international demand for agricultural products. Research on the environmental consequences of trade has often concentrated on the global displacement of pollution and land use, while the effect of trade on water sustainability and the drying of over-depleted watercourses has seldom been recognized and quantified. Here we evaluate unsustainable irrigation water consumption (UWC) associated with global crop production and determine the share of UWC embedded in international trade. We find that, while about 52% of global irrigation is unsustainable, 15% of it is virtually exported, with an average 18% increase between year 2000 and 2015. About 60% of global virtual transfers of UWC are driven by exports of cotton, sugar cane, fruits, and vegetables. One third of UWC in Mexico, Spain, Turkmenistan, South Africa, Morocco, and Australia is associated with demand from the export markets. The globalization of water through trade contributes to running rivers dry, an environmental externality commonly overlooked by trade policies. By identifying the producing and consuming countries that are responsible for unsustainable irrigation embedded in virtual water trade, this study highlights trade links in which policies are needed to achieve sustainable water and food security goals in the coming decades. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
英文关键词	environmental flows; groundwater depletion; hydrology; irrigation; virtual water trade
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Agricultural robots; Aquatic ecosystems; Cultivation; Food supply; Forestry; Groundwater; Hydrology; Irrigation; Land use; River pollution; Sugar cane; Sustainable development; Water conservation; Water supply; Environmental consequences; Environmental flow; Groundwater depletion; International demand; Irrigation practices; Virtual water trade; Virtual water-flow; Water sustainability; International trade; agricultural trade; crop production; food production; globalization; hydrology; irrigation system; sustainability; Australia; Mexico [North America]; South Africa; Spain; Turkmenistan; Gossypium hirsutum; Saccharum
来源期刊	Environmental Research Letters
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/154777
作者单位	Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, I-20133, Italy; School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Rosa L.,Chiarelli D.D.,Tu C.,et al. Global unsustainable virtual water flows in agricultural trade[J],2019,14(11).
APA	Rosa L.,Chiarelli D.D.,Tu C.,Rulli M.C.,&D'odorico P..(2019).Global unsustainable virtual water flows in agricultural trade.Environmental Research Letters,14(11).
MLA	Rosa L.,et al."Global unsustainable virtual water flows in agricultural trade".Environmental Research Letters 14.11(2019).