Global Warming Study Warns of Dangerous Changes in Global River Flow

Just when you thought the debate over global warming and climate change couldn't get any hotter, a new study is adding fuel to the fire. According to research published Friday in the online version of Frontiers in Ecology and The Environment, global climate change will have a devastating effect on rivers impacted by dams or "extensive development."

The study, which was a collaboration between scientists from the United States, Australia, Germany and Sweden, analyzed the potential effect of climate change on river basins. The findings indicated that "significant management interventions" would be necessary to protect people and ecosystems surrounding the rivers in question.

"As a result of damming and development, major rivers worldwide have experienced dramatic changes in flow, reducing their natural ability to adjust to and absorb disturbances," said Dr. Margaret Palmer, director of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and lead author of the study. "Given expected changes in global warming and climate needs, this could lead to serious problems for both ecosystems and people."

While global climate change is often associated with the melting of glaciers and rising sea levels, the phenomenon's affect on other bodies of water has not been widely studied or publicized. However, this study addresses such concerns.

"This report calls attention to significant risks facing many of the world's major rivers and those people who live near or depend on them for water or food," said Palmer.

Palmer and her colleagues used existing data on the effects of dams on large river basins and combined it with projected river discharge levels under different climate and water withdrawal scenarios. Discharge is the volume of water transported in a fixed amount of time, calculated by multiplying the average velocity of a river by its cross-sectional area.