Research story | 2024-04-18

Researchers envision sci-fi worlds involving changes to atmospheric water cycle

A new study used science fiction to imagine how atmospheric water flows might look in the future

Research story | 2024-03-06

Freshwater planetary boundary has been crossed since the mid-twentieth century

The global freshwater cycle has shifted far beyond pre-industrial conditions, a new analysis shows

Research news | 2024-02-08

Eating new plant-based foods can be good for the environment, your health and your economy

Replacing animal-source foods with plant-based alternatives or whole foods decreases environmental impact, meets nutrition recommendations, and can be cost-competitive with the current average Swedish diet

Research news | 2024-01-12

More rain, fewer droughts — rainfall effects from targeted forestation can reduce climate change

By prioritizing targeted increases in rainfall, forestation programs may not only mitigate global climate change itself but also reduce its concrete negative effects such as droughts, new study finds

Research news | 2022-11-22

Fair access to water is a subjective issue in post-drought Cape Town

Who should pay for and benefit from water services? It depends on who you ask, finds a study that revisited Cape Town after its 2015-2018 water crisis

Research news | 2022-11-09

Water is critical for success on climate action

Reaching climate targets depends heavily on better decisions to manage already scarce water resources

Research news | 2022-07-01

Human actions drastically alter river flows

Diminishing water flows may jeopardize the lives of millions of people that depend on the rivers for food production, energy or sanitation

Research news | 2022-02-15

A new approach for safeguarding our waters

Humans have changed the global water cycle and governmental bodies designed to govern water struggle to keep up. A new legal paradigm may help

Research news | 2021-12-16

Freshwater biodiversity must be given a higher priority

Research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity is lagging behind. Researchers propose 15 priorities to improve knowledge on biodiversity in lakes, rivers, ponds and wetlands

Research news | 2021-09-23

Water resilient food systems for future climates

In a statement published by the Global Resilience Partnership, a group of 31 globally diverse practitioners and researchers, sound a clarion call for water resilience to be brought to the forefront of building resilient and sustainable food systems

Research news | 2021-03-26

How to manage future freshwater

Researchers propose a new framework for understanding water's many functions for supporting, regulating, and stabilizing climatic, ecological, and social systems

Research news | 2021-02-24

Life after Day Zero: how Cape Town can adapt to climate change while also addressing inequality

After the scare in 2018, ramped up efforts to waste less water came at a cost to the city’s most vulnerable. Researchers and community activists gave these marginalised communities a voice

Research news | 2021-02-02

In drought-prone Sahel, rain still remains a gift only few farmers can enjoy

Since the 1980s, rainfall conditions for agriculture have improved only in scattered areas across the region

Research news | 2020-09-07

East Africa and Southeast Asia are hotspots for water harvesting

Untapped potential means water harvesting can increase crop production up to 60–100 per cent in Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and India

Research news | 2020-03-23

Saving the planet’s bloodstream

Researchers urge hydrology and water community to join the “Grand Challenge” in establishing safe limits to human interference with the global water cycle

Research news | 2020-02-19

How to manage the world’s most important life-support system

Malin Falkenmark calls for a shift towards a water based biosphere stewardship. The alternative, she warns, could be catastrophic

Research news | 2019-10-25

Hidden treasures beneath the surface water

Little research has been done on the untapped potential and unintended consequences of human-made water bodies like ditches, fishponds, weirs, reservoirs, fish ladders, and irrigation channels

Research news | 2019-10-03

What flows around comes around

Why human actions on land can threaten the quality of water in lakes

Research news | 2019-09-30

A perspective on the future of Africa’s water resources

Researchers predict the impact of climate change on Africa’s water resources

Research news | 2019-01-24

Model behaviour

Mathematical models are essential in the quest to better understand the human impact on the world’s ecosystems. Lake Victoria may hold the cues