Details zur Publikation |
| Kategorie | Textpublikation |
| Referenztyp | Zeitschriften |
| DOI | 10.1088/3033-4942/ae4ad1 |
Lizenz  |
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| Titel (primär) | Uneven distribution of multi-pollutant hotspots worldwide: river exports to seas and their global change drivers in the future |
| Autor | Micella, I.; Bak, M.P.; Dürr, H.H.; Jones, E.R.; Kumar, R.
; Nkwasa, A.; Suresh, K.; Tang, T.; van Vliet, M.T.H.; Wang, M.; Strokal, M. |
| Quelle | Environmental Research: Water |
| Erscheinungsjahr | 2026 |
| Department | CHS |
| Band/Volume | 2 |
| Heft | 2 |
| Seite von | art. 025002 |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Topic | T5 Future Landscapes |
| Daten-/Softwarelinks | https://doi.org/10.17026/PT/WVRTGX |
| Supplements | Supplement 1 Supplement 2 |
| Keywords | water quality; multiple pollutants; socio-economic changes; drivers; Asia; Africa |
| Abstract |
Water pollution with nutrients, chemicals, and plastics
seriously threatens coastal ecosystems and populations. This
multi-pollutant problem is driven by urbanization, food demand, and
human-induced changes. Socio-economic disparities exacerbate these
issues, with low- and middle-income regions typically facing greater
pollution levels due to inadequate management systems. Progress in
addressing multi-pollutant problems remains uneven worldwide. Here, we
aim to identify future multi-pollutant hotspots of coastal waters and
analyse their spatial distribution patterns associated with
socio-economic drivers across global income levels. For this, we apply
the existing Model to Assess River Inputs of pollutaNts to Seas to
quantify river exports of nutrients (nitrogen & phosphorus),
plastics (micro & macro), and chemicals (triclosan & diclofenac)
by sub-basin and source for 2010 and 2050. Model inputs were aggregated
to sub-basins and derived largely from existing datasets and other
integrated models. This study shows that, globally, river exports of
pollutants to coastal waters are projected to increase by 2050, although
this trend is not consistent across all sub-basins and pollutant types.
Thus, future multi-pollutant hotspots of coastal waters are expected to
be unevenly distributed worldwide. For many Asian coastal waters,
multi-pollutant hotspots are projected because of high pollution levels
in 2050, which are largely associated with increased fertilizer use. For
many African coastal waters, multi-pollutant hotspots are projected
because of rapid increases in pollution levels over 2010–2050 that are
driven by rapid population growth and poor waste management. Rapid
urbanization drives pollution hotspots with plastics in high-income
basins worldwide. Over 75% of the population in low-income basins is
projected to live in future multi-pollutant hotspots. Our findings
emphasize the need to address income-based disparities in pollution
management and to support basin-based policies for equitable and
sustainable water management worldwide. |
| Micella, I., Bak, M.P., Dürr, H.H., Jones, E.R., Kumar, R., Nkwasa, A., Suresh, K., Tang, T., van Vliet, M.T.H., Wang, M., Strokal, M. (2026): Uneven distribution of multi-pollutant hotspots worldwide: river exports to seas and their global change drivers in the future Environmental Research: Water 2 (2), art. 025002 10.1088/3033-4942/ae4ad1 |
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