Is the development of desalination compatible with sustainable development of the Arabian Gulf?

Quesne, Will J.F. Le; Fernand, Liam; Ali, Thamer S.; Andrés, Olga; Antonpoulou, M.; Burt, John A.; Dougherty, William; Edson, P.J.; Kharraz, Jauad El; Glavan, Jane; Mamiit, Rusyan Jill; Reid, Keith; Sajwani, Abeer; Sheahan, Dave

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112940

Cited by 32 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…O 2 decline is only one among many stressors that the Gulf ecosystems have to deal with. Rapid warming and additional changes in pH (acidification), salinity (desalination) and nutrient load (eutrophication) are a few other examples of stressors that may further push these ecosystems closer to critical environmental thresholds (Le Quesne et al, 2021;Lincoln et al, 2021;Maltby et al, 2022). Moreover, these multiple stressors may interact in complex ways and lead to synergistic or antagonistic effects that cause a larger or a smaller impact on the organisms and ecosystems than when experienced in isolation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent expansion and intensification of hypoxia in the Arabian Gulf and its drivers

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Arabian Gulf (also known as Persian Gulf, hereafter Gulf) is a shallow semi-enclosed subtropical sea known for its extreme physical environment. Recent observations suggest a decline in oxygen concentrations in the Gulf over the past few decades accompanied by an expansion of seasonal near-bottom hypoxia. Here, we reconstruct the evolution of dissolved oxygen in the Gulf from 1982 through 2010 and explore its controlling factors. To this end, we use an eddy-resolving hindcast simulation forced with winds and heat and freshwater fluxes from an atmospheric reanalysis. We show that seasonal near-bottom hypoxia (O2< 60 mmol m-3) emerges in the deeper part of the Gulf over summer and peaks in autumn in response to enhanced vertical stratification inhibiting mixing and O2 replenishment at depth. We also find a significant deoxygenation in the Gulf over the study period, with the Gulf O2 content dropping by nearly 1% per decade and near-bottom O2 decreasing by between 10 and 30 mmol m-3 in the deeper part of the Gulf between the early 1980s and the late 2000s. These changes result in the horizontal expansion of seasonal bottom hypoxia with the hypoxia-prone seafloor area increasing from less than 20,000 km2 in the 1980s to around 30,000 km2 in the 2000s. The expansion of hypoxia is also accompanied by a lengthening of the hypoxic season with hypoxia emerging locally 1 to 2 months earlier in the late 2000s relative to the early 1980s. Furthermore, declining near-bottom O2 levels result in the expansion of suboxic conditions (O2< 4 mmol m-3) and the emergence and amplification of denitrification there. An analysis of the Gulf oxygen budget demonstrates that deoxygenation is essentially caused by reduced oxygen solubility near the surface and enhanced respiration near the bottom. While reduced solubility results from the warming of the Gulf waters, enhanced respiration is mostly driven by an increased supply of nutrients imported from the Arabian Sea due to the weakening of winter Shamal winds over the study period. Our findings suggest that recent changes in local climate are not only altering the Gulf physical environment but are also having a strong impact on the Gulf biogeochemistry with profound potential implications for the ecosystems and the fisheries of the region.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent expansion and intensification of hypoxia in the Arabian Gulf and its drivers

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Simulation studies suggest that salinity changes from brine discharges can be significant but vary spatially and seasonally [310]. By 2050, the effect of climate change in conjunction with thermal pollution may cause the temperature of 75% of the coastal areas less than 20 m deep to increase by more than 2 • C [20]. This indicates the need to consider climate change in conjunction with trends in other anthropogenic drivers affecting the RSA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The combined effect of evaporation and decreasing rainfall on the salinity of the I-RSA has been exacerbated by further reductions in riverine inputs due to the construction of dams for irrigation and power generation in surrounding countries, resulting in a sharp decline in water flows from the following three main rivers that empty into the I-RSA: Tigris, Euphrates and Karun [19]. Brine outflows from desalination plants are contributing to further increases in salinity in the I-RSA [20], particularly along the southern shores where most of the desalination capacity is located. This increased salinity of the I-RSA has not so far been observed to transfer to surface waters in the M-RSA [21], and no significant changes in salinity have yet been detected in the O-RSA either [22].…”

Section: Temperature Salinity and Humiditymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The high increase projected for the I-RSA is the result of a combination of rapid warming of the shallow water column and the constraint of the Strait of Hormuz, which restricts water exchange with the Indian Ocean [25][26][27]. The current warming trend is likely to result in more frequent marine heatwaves [4], locally amplified by up to 8 • C in parts of the southern I-RSA due to thermal pollution from power and desalination plants [20,28,29]. Regional projections of salinity suggest future increases in salinity under a RCP8.5 scenario in the I-RSA by 2099, while changes appear less pronounced in the M-RSA [24].…”

Section: Temperature Salinity and Humiditymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seawater desalination plants are located on the shoreline and are exposed to similar impacts as coastal power stations. In addition, depending on the technology, desalination plants are exposed to changes in coastal water conditions, with some of the larger installations in the I-RSA drawing water at a rate of more than 120 million m 3 per day [20]. The efficiency and stability of their systems can be limited by increasing water temperature and salinity, as well as mass jellyfish and algal blooms [246].…”

Section: Water and Desalination Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Regional Review of Marine and Coastal Impacts of Climate Change on the ROPME Sea Area

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) Sea Area (RSA) in the northern Indian Ocean, which comprises the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the northern Arabian Sea, already experiences naturally extreme environmental conditions and incorporates one of the world’s warmest seas. There is growing evidence that climate change is already affecting the environmental conditions of the RSA, in areas including sea temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and sea level, which are set to continue changing over time. The cumulative impacts of these changes on coastal and marine ecosystems and dependent societies are less well documented, but are likely to be significant, especially in the context of other human stressors. This review represents the first regional synthesis of observed and predicted climate change impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems across the ROPME Sea Area and their implications for dependent societies. Climate-driven ecological changes include loss of coral reefs due to bleaching and the decline of fish populations, while socio-economic impacts include physical impacts from sea-level rise and cyclones, risk to commercial wild capture fisheries, disruption to desalination systems and loss of tourism. The compilation of this review is aimed to support the development of targeted adaptation actions and to direct future research within the RSA.

show abstract

Integration of risk, flexibility, and resilience in the optimization of water–energy nexus

Chrisandina,

Deshpande,

Al‐Fadhli

et al. 2024

Can J Chem Eng

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Co‐location of power plants and desalination systems allows for a reduction in operational expense through energy integration. Furthermore, augmenting fossil‐based power plants with solar energy provides a means of reducing the carbon footprint of electricity generation. It is also critical to protect the combined energy–water system against internal and external risk factors to maintain a reliable supply of both electricity and water. Therefore, a systematic approach for assessing and mitigating risks is needed. Because of the complex water–energy interactions, a superstructure representation is created and a quantitative risk assessment is conducted to show potential risk factors that target specific sub‐systems. A surrogate model of the flexibility index analysis is built in order to optimize the superstructure for both cost and flexibility objectives. Finally, the generated design is simulated against disruption scenarios to obtain its resilience against various risk factors. This approach is applied to a case study on the Kuwait water–energy plant to show how the developed approach can help decision‐makers create operational strategies to protect against risk in a cost‐effective manner.

show abstract

Is the development of desalination compatible with sustainable development of the Arabian Gulf?

Cited by 32 publications

References 54 publications

Recent expansion and intensification of hypoxia in the Arabian Gulf and its drivers

Recent expansion and intensification of hypoxia in the Arabian Gulf and its drivers

A Regional Review of Marine and Coastal Impacts of Climate Change on the ROPME Sea Area

Integration of risk, flexibility, and resilience in the optimization of water–energy nexus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About