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| Titel |
Water-controlled wealth of nations: Using Water Footprints to Estimate Nations Carrying Capacities and Demographic Sustainability |
| VerfasserIn |
Samir Suweis, Andrea Rinaldo, Amos Maritan, Paolo D'Odorico |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2014
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 16 (2014) |
| Datensatznummer |
250086238
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2014-66.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Population growth is in general constrained by food production, which in turn depends on the
access to water resources. At a country level, some populations use more water than they
control because of their ability to import food and the virtual water required for its
production. Here, we investigate the dependence of demographic growth on available water
resources for exporting and importing nations. By quantifying the carrying capacity of
nations based on calculations of the virtual water available through the food trade network,
we point to the existence of a global water unbalance. We suggest that current export rates
will not be maintained and consequently we question the long-run sustainability of the food
trade system as a whole. Water rich regions are likely to soon reduce the amount of virtual
water they export, thus leaving import-dependent regions without enough water
to sustain their populations. We also investigate the potential impact of possible
scenarios that might mitigate these effects through (1) cooperative interactions
among nations whereby water rich countries maintain a tiny fraction of their food
production available for export; (2) changes in consumption patterns; and (3) a positive
feedback between demographic growth and technological innovations. We find that
these strategies may indeed reduce the vulnerability of water-controlled societies. |
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