Climate, Water, and Soil

Dear Colleagues,

The term “Climate” is more of a complex concept than a normative one. It could mean a recorded mean statistical noise of principal planetary heat exchanges, ranging from three decades or more to thousands of years and starting to obtain a distinguishable trend in a wide range of spatial and temporal scales in response to changes in temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation. Today, trying to disclose the mechanisms that drive the Earth’s climate and its variation, we are faced with an exceedingly complex system that includes five fundamental physical components and their interactions (i.e., atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere). It is a mistake to believe that we have reached the point where we can fully understand the complex relationships between all the processes of the Earth’s climate.

Global shifts in rainfall and temperature patterns due to climate fluctuation can alter the status and function of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in many areas of the world by causing changes in the natural hydrological cycle and the critical biochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients, related to the sustainability of ecosystems’ services. Areas with larger climate variability and water scarcity phenomena, such as the Mediterranean basin, are more vulnerable to these alterations and may display high risk for soil and water resources. Climate parameters (precipitation and temperature) strongly affect water availability and crop water requirements. Under water scarcity conditions, irrigation practices are carried out with water of marginal quality, causing soil salinization and reduced crop yields. Moreover, there are areas that face challenges from a growing population and economy that further stress natural resources. Despite the available knowledge gained so far, there are still considerable uncertainties around the future climate drivers and their potential effect on hydrological systems and ecosystems’ sustainability. Thus, further work is needed in the domains of technology and research focusing on climate and resource interactions, implications on the function and productivity of ecosystems, resource management, as well as on legislation and policy issues. 

This Special Issue “Climate Water and Soil” in the Water journal aims to identify, discuss, and address the above challenges by seeking research and review manuscripts dealing with climate monitoring and future climatic changes and interactions of climate with resources (water and soil), hydrological cycles, and the critical biochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen. Additionally, links between climate and natural and agricultural (crops) ecosystem productivity, resource quality, soil and water resource management, adaptation measures in the agricultural sector, water management to mitigate water scarcity and the degradation of water and soil resources, and water use efficiency issues are included.

In this Special Issue, the goal is for authors to respond to developing solid research on climate, water, and soil in a context that is sometimes missing in mainstream literature on climate. Therefore, our intention in this context is to encourage scientists who promote realistic and innovative approaches to participate in the various issues of the potential thematology, taking the existing knowledge a step further.

Potential thematology

• Anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic impacts on climate (the role of natural and anthropogenic influence on climate)
• History of hydrological cycle (changes over time of Hydrological cycle)
• History of CO₂ emission (historical atmospheric CO₂ over the last two centuries)
• Climatic changes vs. climatic variability and/or fluctuations
• Climate variations in the last millennium
• Predictability of meteorological variables in the short-term vs. unpredictability in the long run
• Climate impacts on hydrological cycles and the status of water resources (quality and availability)
• Effects of climate change on water use efficiency across different users (agricultural, urban, and industrial sectors)
• Scenarios (and/or models) of projected hydroclimatological regime vs. measurements
• Water management and adaptations under climate challenges
• Irrigation under scarcity water conditions
• Irrigation with poor water quality from conventional and non-conventional sources (effects on soil quality and crop productivity)
• Climatic parameters and irrigation
• Water supply of the future megacities
• Links between climate and the status of soil resources
• Interactions between climate and C and N cycling in terrestrial (natural and agricultural) ecosystems
• Interactions between the climate and the critical soil physical and (bio) chemical processes (e.g., mineralization, nitrification and denitrification).
• Implications by climate change in soil moisture, soil biodiversity and microbial activities, soil organic matter, greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions (e.g., CO₂ and N₂O), soil productivity and health, and overall ecosystem services
• Scenarios (and/or models) of projected soil biodiversity, soil quality, and health and GHGs emission regimes vs. measurements
• Land use and soil management and adaptations to tackle the climate change challenges, e.g., strategies and practices enhancing CO₂ capturing by plants and C sequestration into soil and reducing nutrients’ losses as GHGs emissions and nitrates and phosphorus leaching
• Identification of indicators for land use, soil health, water, and ecosystems that have strong links to climate change
• Climate, water, and soil impacts on human life quality and life-expectancy
• The present and the future of climate, water, and soil

Dr. Vasileios Tzanakakis
Dr. Stavros Alexandris
Dr. Maria Psychogiou
Dr. Andreas N. Angelakis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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