Articles | Volume 21, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3455-2017
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3455-2017
Opinion article
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12 Jul 2017
Opinion article | Highlight paper |  | 12 Jul 2017

HESS Opinions: A planetary boundary on freshwater use is misleading

Maik Heistermann

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Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (further review by Editor) (26 May 2017) by Erwin Zehe
AR by Maik Heistermann on behalf of the Authors (07 Jun 2017)  Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (09 Jun 2017) by Erwin Zehe
AR by Maik Heistermann on behalf of the Authors (09 Jun 2017)
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Short summary
In 2009, the "planetary boundaries" were introduced. They consist of nine global control variables and corresponding "thresholds which, if crossed, could generate unacceptable environmental change". The idea has been very successful, but also controversial. This paper picks up the debate with regard to the boundary on "global freshwater use": it argues that such a boundary is based on mere speculation, and that any exercise of assigning actual numbers is arbitrary, premature, and misleading.
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