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

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

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?

A slideshow based on Chapter 3 (including all the figures and tables in the chapter) is available here and below.