IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-17400-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Future changes in the trading of virtual water

Author

Listed:
  • Neal T. Graham

    (Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
    University of Maryland
    Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center)

  • Mohamad I. Hejazi

    (Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
    Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center)

  • Son H. Kim

    (Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

  • Evan G. R. Davies

    (University of Alberta)

  • James A. Edmonds

    (Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

  • Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm

    (Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
    University of Maryland
    Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center
    The Nature Conservancy)

Abstract

Water stressed regions rely heavily on the import of water-intensive goods to offset insufficient food production driven by socioeconomic and environmental factors. The water embedded in these traded commodities, virtual water, has received increasing interest in the scientific community. However, comprehensive future projections of virtual water trading remain absent. Here we show, for the first time, changes over the 21st century in the amount of various water types required to meet international agricultural demands. Accounting for evolution in socioeconomic and climatic conditions, we estimate future interregional virtual water trading and find trading of renewable water sources may triple by 2100 while nonrenewable groundwater trading may at least double. Basins in North America, and the La Plata and Nile Rivers are found to contribute extensively to virtual water exports, while much of Africa, India, and the Middle East relies heavily on virtual water imports by the end of the century.

Suggested Citation

  • Neal T. Graham & Mohamad I. Hejazi & Son H. Kim & Evan G. R. Davies & James A. Edmonds & Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, 2020. "Future changes in the trading of virtual water," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17400-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17400-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17400-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-17400-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Zhaohua & Zhang, Hongzhi & Li, Hao & Wang, Song & Wang, Zhenpo, 2023. "Identifying the key factors to China's unsustainable external circulation through the accounting of the flow of embodied energy and virtual water," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. Anderson, Edward & Zachary, Stan, 2023. "Minimax decision rules for planning under uncertainty: Drawbacks and remedies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 311(2), pages 789-800.
    3. Derfler-Rozin, Rellie & Isaakyan, Sofya & Park, Hyunsun, 2022. "Swiftly judging whom to bring on board: How person perception (accurate or not) influences selection of prospective team members," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    4. Hachaichi, Mohamed, 2023. "Unpacking the urban virtual water of the Global South: Lessons from 181 cities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    5. Yin, Yali & Tong, Jiajun & Gu, Jiali & Sun, Shikun & Sun, Jingxin & Zhao, Jinfeng & Tang, Yihe & Wu, Pute & Wang, Yubao & Wu, Zhaodan, 2024. "Socio-hydrology pathway of grain virtual water flow in China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    6. Katarzyna Kocur-Bera & Anna Lyjak, 2021. "Analysis of Changes in Agricultural Use of Land After Poland’s Accession to the EU," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 517-533.
    7. Kim, Dongin & Steinbach, Sandro & Zurita, Carlos, 2024. "Regional Trade Agreements and Virtual Water Trade," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 344045, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Loa, Patrick & Hossain, Sanjana & Liu, Yicong & Nurul Habib, Khandker, 2022. "How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the use of ride-sourcing services? An empirical evidence-based investigation for the Greater Toronto Area," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 46-62.
    9. Wang, Chunan & Jiang, Changmin, 2022. "How do pandemics affect intercity air travel? Implications for traffic and environment," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 330-353.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17400-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.