Moist heat stress extremes in India enhanced by irrigation

Mishra, Vimal; Ambika, Anukesh Krishnankutty; Asoka, Akarsh; Aadhar, Saran; Buzan, J. R.; Kumar, Rohini; Huber, Matthew

doi:10.1038/s41561-020-00650-8

Cited by 121 publications

(171 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Growing evidence suggests that next to the direct influence of irrigation on freshwater availability which we account for here, changes in the evapotranspiration regime due to land use change and especially irrigation may also indirectly influence patterns of local rainfall 49 , 50 , and may have remote effects via atmospheric moisture recycling 51 , 52 or effects on specific and relative humidity 53 . Taking these effects into account requires either a coupled biosphere-atmosphere model or a complex redistribution along atmospheric moisture tracks 54 for each climate scenario, which open up avenues for potential future research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irrigation of biomass plantations may globally increase water stress more than climate change

et al. 2021

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Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is considered an important negative emissions (NEs) technology, but might involve substantial irrigation on biomass plantations. Potential water stress resulting from the additional withdrawals warrants evaluation against the avoided climate change impact. Here we quantitatively assess potential side effects of BECCS with respect to water stress by disentangling the associated drivers (irrigated biomass plantations, climate, land use patterns) using comprehensive global model simulations. By considering a widespread use of irrigated biomass plantations, global warming by the end of the 21st century could be limited to 1.5 °C compared to a climate change scenario with 3 °C. However, our results suggest that both the global area and population living under severe water stress in the BECCS scenario would double compared to today and even exceed the impact of climate change. Such side effects of achieving substantial NEs would come as an extra pressure in an already water-stressed world and could only be avoided if sustainable water management were implemented globally.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irrigation of biomass plantations may globally increase water stress more than climate change

et al. 2021

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“…We obtained LST from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Star Center for Satellite Application and Research (NSTAR), which is available at 4 km spatial resolution from 1982 to 2018 (https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/index.php; Mishra, Ambika, et al., 2020; Mishra, Thirumalai, et al., 2020; Yu et al., 2017). LST represents skin temperature that can be used to understand the moisture stress (Ambika & Mishra, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mishra, Ambika, et al. (2020) and Mishra, Thirumalai, et al. (2020) used WRF simulations for the 2000–2018 period to estimate the influence of irrigation on moist heat extremes in India.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Atmospheric humidity and temperature are negatively correlated in several parts of the world, mostly driven by land‐atmospheric feedbacks (Zscheischler & Seneviratne, 2017). Therefore, in the regions where atmospheric moisture and temperature are negatively associated (e.g., India), both dry and hot extremes can be influenced by the land‐atmospheric feedbacks (Mishra, 2020; Mishra, Ambika, et al., 2020; Mishra, Thirumalai, et al., 2020; Sharma & Mujumdar, 2017). For instance, low humidity and high temperature can lead to concurrent extreme events (Zhou et al., 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soil moisture deficit and increase in VPD can exacerbate compound hot and dry extremes (Zhou et al., 2019; Zscheischler et al., 2018; Zscheischler & Seneviratne, 2017). As irrigation modulates climate warming (Thiery et al., 2020) and temperature extremes (Lobell et al., 2008; Mishra, Ambika, et al., 2020; Mishra, Thirumalai, et al., 2020; Thiery et al., 2017), identifying the role of irrigation on compound extremes (high VPD and low soil moisture) is essential.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modulation of Compound Extremes of Low Soil Moisture and High Vapor Pressure Deficit by Irrigation in India

Ambika

Mishra

2021

JGR Atmospheres

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Compound extremes of low soil moisture and high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) have implications on terrestrial carbon sequestration, vegetation growth, and net primary productivity (NPP). Yet, the role of irrigation on the occurrence of compound extremes remains unexplored in India. Here, we use satellite observations, reanalysis data sets, and high‐resolution simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to show that irrigation significantly reduces the frequency of compound extremes of low soil moisture and high VPD in India. The Indo‐Gangetic plain witnessed a significant (p < 0.05) increase in mean annual soil moisture while a substantial reduction in VPD during 1979–2018. Moreover, irrigation caused considerable cooling over the Indo‐Gangetic plain during 1982–2018. The increase in soil moisture and the decline in VPD partly contributed to a substantial rise in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and NPP. We conducted high‐resolution simulations using the WRF model to examine the role of irrigation in modulating the frequency of compound extremes during 1979–2018. The WRF simulations under the irrigation‐on show a considerably reduced frequency of the compound extremes compared to the irrigation‐off (control) simulations. Irrigation modulates compound extremes by changing the land surface energy budget and planetary boundary layer height. Therefore, there is a need to consider irrigation for reliable projections of compound extremes under a warming climate in intensively irrigated regions.

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Representing Indian Agricultural Practices and Paddy Cultivation in the Variable Infiltration Capacity Model

Joseph¹,

Ghosh²

2021

Preprint

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Moist heat stress extremes in India enhanced by irrigation

Cited by 121 publications

References 55 publications

Irrigation of biomass plantations may globally increase water stress more than climate change

Irrigation of biomass plantations may globally increase water stress more than climate change

Modulation of Compound Extremes of Low Soil Moisture and High Vapor Pressure Deficit by Irrigation in India

Representing Indian Agricultural Practices and Paddy Cultivation in the Variable Infiltration Capacity Model

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