Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Earth's surface water change over the past 30 years

Earth's surface gained 115,000 km2 of water and 173,000 km2 of land over the past 30 years, including 20,135 km2 of water and 33,700 km2 of land in coastal areas. Here, we analyse the gains and losses through the Deltares Aqua Monitor — an open tool that detects land and water changes around the globe.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Heat map of global surface water and land changes.
Figure 2: Largest surface water and land changes from 1985 until 2015 grouped by drainage basins.
Figure 3: Examples of surface water changes between 1985 and 2015, detected using the Aqua Monitor.

References

  1. Weiss, K. R. Nature 526, 624–627 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Jackson, S. & Sleigh, A. Commun. Post-Commun. 33, 223–241 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Giosan, L., Syvitski, J., Constantinescu, S. & Day, J. Nature 516, 31–33 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Storlazzi, C. D., Elias, E. P. L. & Berkowitz, P. Sci. Rep. 5, 14546 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kirwan, M. L., Temmerman, S., Skeehan, E. E., Guntenspergen, G. R. & Faghe, S. Nature Clim. Change 6, 253–260 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dai, Z., Liu, J. T., Wei, W. & Chen, J. Sci. Rep. 4, 6600 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hansen, M. C. et al. Science 342, 850–853 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Donchyts, G., Schellekens, J., Winsemius, H., Eisemann, E. & van de Giesen, N. Remote Sens. 8, 386 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. García, L., Rodríguez, J. D., Wijnen, M. & Pakulski, I. Earth Observation for Water Resources Management: Current Use and Future Opportunities for the Water Sector (The World Bank, 2016)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Lehner, B. et al. Front. Ecol. Environ. 9, 494–502 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Sang-Hun, C. South Korea rejects North's explanation of dam release. New York Times (7 September 2009).

  12. Davidson, C. Middle East Rep. 251, 8–13 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Glantz, M. H. Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea Basin (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  14. Micklin, P. Environ. Earth Sci. 75, 844 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Barnett, T. P. & Pierce, D. W. Wat. Resour. Res. 44, W03201 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Mohamed, Y. A., van den Hurk, B. J. J. M., Savenije, H. H. G. & Bastiaanssen, W. G. M. Wat. Resour. Res. 41, W08420 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Barros, V. R. et al. in Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability Ch. 5 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2015).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gennadii Donchyts.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Donchyts, G., Baart, F., Winsemius, H. et al. Earth's surface water change over the past 30 years. Nature Clim Change 6, 810–813 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3111

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3111

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing