Patil et al. (2025) Over 100 global climate sensitive rivers are experiencing large and severe changes in streamflow volume and timing

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Environmental Research Letters
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-11
• Authors: Rupesh Patil, Yongping Wei, James Shulmeister
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ae1e16

Research Groups

Not specified in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study analyzed streamflow volume and timing changes in 812 climate-sensitive rivers globally from 1950 to 2022, finding increasing streamflow and earlier timing in over half of the sites, largely driven by precipitation changes, with significant implications for river health and water management.

Objective

• To analyze alterations in streamflow volume (Q) and centre of timing (CT) at 1017 stream gauges across 812 climate-sensitive rivers and tributaries worldwide.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, covering 812 climate-sensitive rivers and tributaries across subtropical, temperate, and arctic regions.
• Temporal Scale: 73 years (from 1950 to 2022).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not specified in the abstract.
• Data sources: Streamflow measurements from 1017 stream gauges; precipitation data (implied from analysis of P and PCT).

Main Results

• Increasing trends in streamflow volume (Q) were observed at 512 (just over half) of the sites.
• A bias towards earlier changes in the centre of timing (CT) was found (≥−2 days per year), reflected in over 65% of records.
• At over 80% of gauges, rising Q and earlier CT were sensitive to increasing precipitation (P) and earlier centre of timing of precipitation (PCT).
• More than 60% of significant gauges exhibited moderate to severe changes in Q and CT.
• 104 global climate-sensitive rivers, located in subtropical, temperate, and arctic regions, experienced large and severe changes based on long-term Q seasonality (CT > ±15 days).
• These changes are projected to increase flooding, alter water storage, cause water shortages, and degrade river health.

Contributions

• Provides clear, global evidence on changes in streamflow volume and timing for a large set of climate-sensitive rivers, addressing a critical knowledge gap.
• Quantifies the sensitivity of streamflow changes to precipitation patterns across a global network of gauges.
• Identifies specific climate-sensitive rivers experiencing significant and severe alterations in streamflow seasonality.
• Proposes proactive strategies for the protection and adaptive management of these vulnerable river systems.

Funding

Not specified in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Patil2025Over,
  author = {Patil, Rupesh and Wei, Yongping and Shulmeister, James},
  title = {Over 100 global climate sensitive rivers are experiencing large and severe changes in streamflow volume and timing},
  journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/ae1e16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae1e16}
}