Revealing ecological risks of climate change on global river basins

Rising global temperatures will impact major river basins differently around the world, with rivers in South America, southern Africa and Australia among those most at risk of extreme ecological changes, a new study led by UCL has found. For the first time, researchers from UCL Geography, the University of Nottingham and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology combined large datasets with an environmental flow approach to predict how changes of between 1-3°C in the Earth's temperature would impact 321 of the world's biggest river basins. Collectively, these cover around 50% of the Earth's land surface. The research, published in Earth's Future , showed increasing risks of ecological change with warming, particularly for seasonal low flow periods. The team's findings could help target hotspots for ecosystem conservation, through better understanding of the ecological risks from climate change-induced modifications to river flow. Ecological conditions within the world's rivers are strongly controlled by the amount, variability and timing of water flowing within them. Changes in river flows impact on river depth and velocity, water chemistry and habitats, with implications for aquatic life and the ecosystem services provided by rivers to humans.