Impacts of Climate Change on the Water–Energy–Food Nexus

Dear Colleagues,

The influences induced by global climate change have been identified as increasing temperature, melting snowpack, extreme rainfall and drought, fire, and sea level rise and can further affect the ecosystem processes and functions that would bring increased pressure to the interdependence between water, energy, and food. Climate change impacts on water resources are often seen as spatiotemporal changes in rainfall, leading to the unreliability of surface water resources and increasing energy usage to extract groundwater resources or produce renewable water. Additionally, water shortages due to recurring droughts can affect energy production, such as hydropower and biofuels. The insufficient supply of water and energy would affect food production and result in food and nutrition insecurity. Due to the trade-offs among water, food, and energy, there is an urgent need to balance the supplies and demands among different strategic sectors, thereby reaching the maximum mutual benefits. The water–energy–food (WEF) nexus, which considers the interactions, synergies, and trade-offs among water, energy, and food, is a cross-sectional approach in natural resource decision-making for managing water resources, food security, and energy sustainability.

This Special Issue collects original research and critical reviews about scientific and technical information on the recent advances in the WEF nexus. The primary areas of interest of this Special Issue include but are not limited to the (1) estimation of climate change impacts on the WEF nexus and related ecosystem processes; (2) development of climate change adaptation strategies by WEF nexus approaches; (3) synergies and trade-offs of the WEF nexus under the climate change impacts; (4) holistic assessment and modeling tools for WEF nexus management; and (5) identification of the optimized life-cycle of water, energy and food elements in the WEF nexus.

Dr. Li-Chi Chiang
Dr. Shu-Yuan Pan
Prof. Dr. Pei-Te Chiueh
Prof. Dr. Yu-Pin Lin
Guest Editors

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• Water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus
• Climate change adaptation
• Ecosystem services
• Life cycle in the WEF nexus
• Holistic assessment
• Modeling tools