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ORNL: High-resolution modeling assesses impact of cities on river ecosystems

Posted at 3:39 am August 24, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A new study from Oak Ridge National Laboratory shows the far-reaching impacts of U.S. cities’ energy consumption on regional ecosystems. Urban areas cover only about 5 percent of the Southeast’s landscape, but cities’ water and energy infrastructures often extend well beyond urban areas as power plants (represented as black dots) are distributed throughout the entire region. (Credit: Ryan McManamay/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

A new study from Oak Ridge National Laboratory shows the far-reaching impacts of U.S. cities’ energy consumption on regional ecosystems. Urban areas cover only about 5 percent of the Southeast’s landscape, but cities’ water and energy infrastructures often extend well beyond urban areas as power plants (represented as black dots) are distributed throughout the entire region. (Credit: Ryan McManamay/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

 

New mapping methods developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory can help urban planners minimize the environmental impacts of cities’ water and energy demands on surrounding stream ecologies, a press release said.

In an analysis published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an ORNL-led team used high-resolution geospatial modeling to quantify the effects of land, energy, and water infrastructures on the nation’s rivers and streams.

Using streamflow data from the U.S. Geological Survey, the researchers mapped changes to natural hydrology to assess how infrastructure development and competition over water resources affects the environment at a national scale. Their data-driven approach sheds light on the extent to which water resources and aquatic species are affected by urban infrastructures and could help cities curb their burden on regional ecosystems, the press release said.

The results indicate that urban land transformation and electricity production together affect 7 percent of U.S. streams, which influence habitats for more than 60 percent of all North American freshwater fish, mussel, and crayfish species, the release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Science, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: April Morton, Benjamin Ruddell, Budhendra Bhaduri, Christopher DeRolph, electricity production, energy consumption, environmental impacts, Environmental Sciences Division, Hyun Kim, Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program, Liem Tran, Matthew Troia, natural hydrology, Northern Arizona University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, regional ecosystems, Robert Stewart, Ryan McManamay, stream ecologies, streamflow data, Sujithkumar Surendran Nair, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Geological Survey, University of Tennessee, Urban Dynamics Institute, urban infrastructures, urban land transformation, US cities can manage national hydrology and biodiversity using local infrastructure policy

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