Global spatio-temporal change assessment in interregional water stress footprint in China by a high resolution MRIO model.

Developing effective strategies to alleviate increasing water stress in China requires an understanding of how consumption and production drive water stress footprints (WSF) at a high resolution and multiple spatial and temporal scales. However, current Chinese multi-regional input-output (CMRIO) models have limited resolution. Here, we build a high-resolution international MRIO model covering 31 Chinese provinces, 163 sectors, to address this issue, and then analyze the impact of changes in China's interprovincial and international trade patterns on the WSF from 2012 to 2017. We find that China's water stress embodied in inter-provincial trade has increased year after year, to 5606 km3 H2O-eq in 2017, exceeding 50 % of the total domestic footprint. Domestic water stress transfer is most apparent in the outsourcing of water stress from eastern coastal regions to Central and Western regions, with the top interregional supply chain paths mainly associated with the demand of processed rice and tobacco products. China has transformed into a net exporter of water stress in 2017, with water stress exports to developing countries accounting for 54 % of total exports, up from 51 % in 2012. With deepening globalization, trade between China and developing countries has boosted bilateral economic development, while also exacerbating water stress in China. In addition to agricultural cultivation, industrial products such as plastics and steel exported to meet international industries further contribute to water stress in Northern China. Further identify hotspots of water stress consumption is needed to prioritize actions to relieve regional water stress in a more effective manner, and our study can provide key information.

Modeling the association between socioeconomic features and risk of flood damage: A local-scale case study in Sri Lanka.

Floods cause severe damage to people as well as to properties. The same flood can cause different levels of damage to different households, but investigations into floods tend to be conducted on regional and national scales, thereby missing these local variations. It is therefore necessary to understand individual experiences of flood damage to implement effective flood management strategies on a local scale. The main objectives of this study were to develop a model that represents the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and flood damage at a local scale, and to understand the socioeconomic factors most closely tied to flood damage. The analysis is novel in that it considers not only the impact of flood characteristics, but also the impact of social, economic, and geographic factors on flood damage. This analysis derives from a quantitative modeling approach based on community responses, with the responses obtained through questionnaire surveys that consider four consecutive floods of differing severity. Path analysis was used to develop a model to represent the relationships between these factors. A randomly selected sample of 150 data points was used for model development, and nine random samples of 150 data points were used to validate the model. Results suggest that poor households, located in vulnerable, low-lying areas near rivers, suffer the most from being exposed to frequent, severe floods. Further, the results show that the socioeconomic factors with the most significant bearing on flood damage are per capita income and geographic location of the household. The results can be represented as a cycle, showing that social, economic, geographic, and flood characteristics are interrelated in ways that influence flood damage. This empirical analysis highlights a need for local-scale flood damage assessments, as offered in this article but seldom seen in other relevant literature. Our assessment was achieved by analyzing the impact of socioeconomic and geographic conditions and considering the relationship between flood characteristics and flood damage.

Evaluating the impacts of climate and land-use change on the hydrology and nutrient yield in a transboundary river basin: A case study in the 3S River Basin (Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok).

Assessment of the climate and land-use change impacts on the hydrology and water quality of a river basin is important for the development and management of water resources in the future. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of climate and land-use change on the hydrological regime and nutrient yield from the 3S River Basin (Sekong, Srepok, and Sesan) into the 3S River system in Southeast Asia. The 3S Rivers are important tributaries of the Lower Mekong River, accounting for 16% of its annual flow. This transboundary basin supports the livelihoods of nearly 3.5 million people in the countries of Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. To reach a better understanding of the process and fate of pollution (nutrient yield) as well as the hydrological regime, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate water quality and discharge in the 3S River Basin. Future scenarios were developed for three future periods: 2030s (2015-2039), 2060s (2045-2069), and 2090s (2075-2099), using an ensemble of five GCMs (General Circulation Model) simulations: (HadGEM2-AO, CanESM2, IPSL-CM5A-LR, CNRM-CM5, and MPI-ESM-MR), driven by the climate projection for RCPs (Representative Concentration Pathways): RCP4.5 (medium emission) and RCP8.5 (high emission) scenarios, and two land-use change scenarios. The results indicated that the climate in the study area would generally become warmer and wetter under both emission scenarios. Discharge and nutrient yield is predicted to increase in the wet season and decrease in the dry. Overall, the annual discharge and nutrient yield is projected to increase throughout the twenty-first century, suggesting sensitivity in the 3S River Basin to climate and land-use change. The results of this study can assist water resources managers and planners in developing water management strategies for uncertain climate change scenarios in the 3S River Basin.

The growing role of web-based geospatial technology in disaster response and support.

This paper examines changes in disaster response and relief efforts and recent web-based geospatial technological developments through an evaluation of the experiences of the Center for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University, of the Sichuan (2008) and Haiti (2010) earthquake responses. This paper outlines how conventional GIS (geographic information systems) disaster responses by governmental agencies and relief response organisations and the means for geospatial data-sharing have been transformed into a more dynamic, more transparent, and decentralised form with a wide participation. It begins by reviewing briefly at historical changes in the employment of geospatial technologies in major devastating disasters, including the Sichuan and Haiti earthquakes (case studies for our geospatial portal project). It goes on to assess changes in the available dataset type and in geospatial disaster responders, as well as the impact of geospatial technological changes on disaster relief effort. Finally, the paper discusses lessons learned from recent responses and offers some thoughts for future development.