Articles | Volume 21, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5603-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5603-2017
Research article
 | 
14 Nov 2017
Research article |  | 14 Nov 2017

Hydrological impacts of global land cover change and human water use

Joyce H. C. Bosmans, Ludovicus P. H. van Beek, Edwin H. Sutanudjaja, and Marc F. P. Bierkens

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Cited articles

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Short summary
We investigate how changes in land cover, such as deforestation, affect river runoff and evaporation from the land surface. We use computer simulations to show that the impact of land cover changes is significant and, when globally averaged, it is as important as more direct human impacts through water use (such as irrigation). There is large spatial variability in the impact of land cover change, with the largest changes when tall vegetation (such as forests) is replaced by crop fields.
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