Chapter 3. Global and Local Change: The End of Stationarity

This chapter explores how climate change and land-use change are affecting water availability for people and ecosystems. We address questions such as these:

  • How is climate change affecting the hydrologic cycle?
  • How does deforestation affect water supply, and how should we manage forests to protect water quality?
  • Is desertification a threat to water availability in drylands?
  • If “stationarity is dead,” what should replace it?

To the right you can download resources from the book and access additional resources relevant to this chapter.

Glacier recession over 63 years in Alaska

Glacier recession over 63 years in Alaska. Photographs by NASA. See this link for additional photos of glacier change from around the world.