sustainability-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Impact of Climate Change on Groundwater: Projections of Future Availability and Sustainable Use

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 596

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Water and Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China
Interests: hydrology and water resources; water-saving irrigation technology; ecological hydrology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Globally, climate change has become a key factor influencing ecosystems and human life. In recent years, extreme climate events have occurred frequently, glaciers have been melting at an accelerated rate, and sea levels have been continuously rising. These phenomena have profoundly altered the hydrological cycle of the Earth. Groundwater, as an important source of fresh water for humans, accounts for approximately 30% of the total global fresh water. It plays an indispensable role in maintaining ecological balance, ensuring agricultural irrigation, and providing water for residents. However, climate change is quietly altering the recharge, runoff, and discharge conditions of groundwater, posing a potential threat to its future availability. If these changes cannot be scientifically predicted and sustainable utilization strategies cannot be formulated, it may lead to a series of serious problems such as water shortages and land subsidence. Therefore, in-depth research on the impact of climate change on groundwater is extremely urgent.

This Special Issue aims to predict future climate trends through different climate scenarios, such as those based on the RCP simulation series. It analyzes the changes in factors like precipitation and temperature and their impacts on groundwater. It quantifies the available groundwater volume under different scenarios and studies sustainable utilization strategies by integrating recharge and discharge processes. It predicts the dynamic of available groundwater volume in future climate change and provides theoretical and data support for responding to climate change and ensuring the long-term stable supply and scientific utilization of groundwater resources. This research closely adheres to sustainability and focuses on the rational development and utilization of groundwater, an important resource under climate change. It can provide key data and theoretical support for sustainable water resource management and takes into account the coordinated development of humans and the environment, pursuing the sustainable utilization of resources.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but is not limited to) the following:

  1. Assessment of groundwater availability under intense human activities;
  2. Research on groundwater resource management under climate change conditions;
  3. Groundwater risk assessment under climate change conditions;
  4. Assessment of the impact of climate change in different future scenarios;
  5. Research on the applicability of future climate scenario data;
  6. The impact of future climate change on groundwater quality;
  7. Analysis of the available quantity and sustainability of groundwater under future climate change.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Xinlin He
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • future climate change
  • climate scenario prediction
  • groundwater
  • available quantity
  • sustainable utilization
  • groundwater risk assessment
  • water resources management

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 7740 KiB  
Article
A Future Scenario Prediction for the Arid Inland River Basins in China Under Climate Change: A Case Study of the Manas River Basin
by Fuchu Zhang, Xinlin He, Guang Yang and Xiaolong Li
Sustainability 2025, 17(8), 3658; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17083658 - 18 Apr 2025
Viewed by 436
Abstract
Global warming poses significant threats to agriculture, ecosystems, and human survival. This study focuses on the arid inland Manas River Basin in northwestern China, utilizing nine CMIP6 climate models and five multi-model ensemble methods (including machine learning algorithms such as random forest and [...] Read more.
Global warming poses significant threats to agriculture, ecosystems, and human survival. This study focuses on the arid inland Manas River Basin in northwestern China, utilizing nine CMIP6 climate models and five multi-model ensemble methods (including machine learning algorithms such as random forest and support vector machines) to evaluate historical temperature and precipitation simulations (1979–2014) after bias correction via Quantile Mapping (QM). Future climate trends (2015–2100) under three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) are projected and analyzed for spatiotemporal evolution. The results indicate that the weighted set method (WSM) significantly improves simulation accuracy after excluding poorly performing models. Under SSP1-2.6, the long-term average increases in maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and precipitation are 1.654 °C, 1.657 °C, and 34.137 mm, respectively, with minimal climate variability. In contrast, SSP5-8.5 exhibits the most pronounced warming, with increases reaching 4.485 °C, 4.728 °C, and 60.035 mm, respectively. Notably, the minimum temperature rise gradually surpasses the maximum temperature, indicating a shift toward warmer and more humid conditions in the basin. Spatially, high warming rates are concentrated in low-altitude desert areas, while the precipitation increases correlate with elevation. These findings provide critical insights for climate adaptation strategies, sustainable water resource management, and ecological conservation in China’s arid inland river basins under future climate change. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop