Tipping from the Holocene to the Anthropocene: How threatened are major world deltas?

Renaud, Fabrice G.; Syvitski, James P. M.; Sebesvári, Zita; Werners, S.E.; Kremer, Hartwig; Kuenzer, Claudia; Ramachandran, Ramesh; Jeuken, Ad; Friedrich, Jana

doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2013.11.007

Cited by 184 publications

(152 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

152

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The central parts of the delta are close to two large rivers and have a dense system of dykes and channels that allow flood management. Kuenzer et al [63] already pointed out that the level of flood management coincides highly with the employed rice-cropping scheme. This abundance of water combined with the ability to manage the flooding enables the cultivation of two or three rice crops per year.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to its origin by accumulation of alluvial sediments from the Mekong River, the wide flat plain is mostly located below sea level and consists of fertile soils [61] and, like all deltas, it is vulnerable to a number of factors [62,63]. An intricate flood regime influences it, which used to be a single-peak pulse but is expected to change due to upstream regulatory measures [64,65].…”

Section: Study Area: Mekong Deltamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mapping Rice Seasonality in the Mekong Delta with Multi-Year Envisat ASAR WSM Data

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Rice is the most important food crop in Asia, and the timely mapping and monitoring of paddy rice fields subsequently emerged as an important task in the context of food security and modelling of greenhouse gas emissions. Rice growth has a distinct influence on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter images, and time-series analysis of C-band images has been successfully employed to map rice fields. The poor data availability on regional scales is a major drawback of this method. We devised an approach to classify paddy rice with the use of all available Envisat ASAR WSM (Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar Wide Swath Mode) data for our study area, the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. We used regression-based incidence angle normalization and temporal averaging to combine acquisitions from multiple tracks and years. A crop phenology-based classifier has been applied to this time series to detect single-, double-and triple-cropped rice areas (one to three harvests per year), as well as dates and lengths of growing seasons. Our classification has an overall accuracy of 85.3% and a kappa coefficient of 0.74 compared to a reference dataset and correlates highly with official rice area statistics at the provincial level (R² of 0.98). SAR-based time-series analysis allows accurate mapping and monitoring of rice areas even under adverse atmospheric conditions.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Area: Mekong Deltamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Rice Seasonality in the Mekong Delta with Multi-Year Envisat ASAR WSM Data

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As the population increases and water-consuming economic activity grows, the use of water becomes determined by humans rather than natural processes [62]. Existing ecosystems have evolved to suit local water availability, such that when tolerable human blue water consumption is exceeded, it can lead to changes in the way the socio-ecological system operates [63] and a "high probability of (possibly abrupt) water-induced changes with large detrimental impacts on human societies" [64].…”

Section: Partitioning Between Human Use and Environmental Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

Transferable Principles for Managing the Nexus: Lessons from Historical Global Water Modelling of Central Asia

Guillaume

Kummu

Eisner

et al. 2015

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The complex relationships within the water-energy-food security nexus tend to be place-specific, increasing the importance of identifying transferable principles to facilitate implementation of a nexus approach. This paper aims to contribute transferable principles by using global model data and concepts to illustrate and analyze the water history of Central Asia. This approach builds on extensive literature about Central Asia and global change as well as recent advances in global water modeling. Decadal water availability and sectorial water consumption time series are presented for the whole 20th century, along with monthly changes in discharge attributable to human influences. Concepts from resilience and socio-ecological system theory are used to interpret the results and identify five principles relevant to managing the transboundary nexus: (1) the subsystems included/excluded from the nexus are case-specific and should be consciously scrutinized; (2) consensus is needed on what boundaries can acceptably be crossed within the nexus; (3) there is a need to understand how reducing trade-offs will modify system dependencies; (4) global stakeholders have both a responsibility and right to contribute to the shaping of the nexus; (5) combining data with global and local perspectives can help to enhance transferability and understanding of shared problems in our globalized world.

show abstract

“…This can take place at different scales; here we focus on engineering systems rather than individual engineering components, for example polders and city defences. Humans have engineered adaptation strategies to reduce the impacts of the large variety of hazards in deltas (Renaud et al, 2013). Table 1 gives examples of both infrastructural and non-infrastructural adaptations that can be found within deltas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolving deltas: Coevolution with engineered interventions

Welch

Nicholls

Lázár

2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Deltaic environments are often densely populated with high socio-economic values, and thus are hotspots of climatic, environmental and anthropogenic change. Large scale engineered structures, such as dike systems, have played an important role in shaping both environmental and socio-economic conditions in deltas, with such interventions more likely where there is a high population and a wealthy economy. Engineered interventions interact with the morphological evolution of the delta, reducing or removing sedimentation and accelerating subsidence, increasing the consequences of flooding and necessitating further adaptation. They also encourage further development, reinforcing this feedback. Thus, in these cases, the deltaic landscape and associated livelihoods can be considered to be the result of a coevolution process between natural delta processes and human engineered interventions. This paper explores this hypothesis. It analyses the history of large scale engineering interventions and their implications in five representative, large, populated deltas across the globe (Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Yangtze, Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt, Mekong and Nile). The results demonstrate coevolution has occurred and indicate that the response type and the management approach of these engineered structures have significant implications for future delta development. To understand and manage unintended consequences and the development of lock-in trajectories in deltas, a systematic understanding of delta development, including these coevolution processes is essential.

show abstract

Tipping from the Holocene to the Anthropocene: How threatened are major world deltas?

Cited by 184 publications

References 36 publications

Mapping Rice Seasonality in the Mekong Delta with Multi-Year Envisat ASAR WSM Data

Mapping Rice Seasonality in the Mekong Delta with Multi-Year Envisat ASAR WSM Data

Transferable Principles for Managing the Nexus: Lessons from Historical Global Water Modelling of Central Asia

Evolving deltas: Coevolution with engineered interventions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About