Pilot analysis of global ecosystems: Freshwater systems

A pilot analysis of global freshwater systems indicating that human activities have severely degraded these ecosystems, threatening their ability to support life and disrupting global biogeochemical cycles.

• The world's freshwater systems have reached a level of degradation that puts the support of human, plant, and animal life at great risk.
• Human actions have fundamentally altered all major ecosystem types, specifically through the expansion of agriculture into forests and grasslands, the modification of hydrological regimes in most major rivers via engineering, and the conversion of coastal habitats for settlement and development.
• Human activities, including industry, agriculture, and urban expansion, have permanently converted natural habitats and disrupted the global nitrogen, carbon, and water cycles. This has led to ecosystem degradation characterized by pollution, fragmentation, fires, pest attacks, and the introduction of nonnative species.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Pilot analysis of global ecosystems: Freshwater systems. https://www.wri.org/research/pilot-analysis-global-ecosystems-freshwater-systems

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Pilot analysis of global ecosystems: Freshwater systems. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/pilot-analysis-global-ecosystems-freshwater-systems.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Pilot analysis of global ecosystems: Freshwater systems |url=https://www.wri.org/research/pilot-analysis-global-ecosystems-freshwater-systems |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendpilot, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Pilot analysis of global ecosystems: Freshwater systems}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/pilot-analysis-global-ecosystems-freshwater-systems}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }