Delta Challenges and Trade-Offs from the Holocene to the Anthropocene

Abstract

Deltas are microcosms of the global dilemmas of living sustainably within environmental systems that affect human life and well-being. Deltas have become increasingly human-dominated systems over the past century, reflecting a range of changes at global, catchment and delta scales. An integrated perspective of deltas as multiple interacting systems highlights the real potential for indirect and unintended consequences of human action at one scale to cascade through other sectors spatially and temporally. This chapter reviews Anthropocene trends and highlights how integrated scientific assessment in three illustrative deltas, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, the Mahanadi and the Volta, illuminates Anthropocene challenges and trade-offs. Modelling and observations of biophysical and social processes including migration and economic dynamics, and direct analysis of adaptation, demonstrate where these challenges have potentially sustainable solutions.