---
OA_type: closed access
_id: '22526'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Climate change can reduce surface-water supply by enhancing evapotranspiration
    in forested mountains, especially during heatwaves. We investigate this ‘drought
    paradox’ for the European Alps using a 1,212-station database and hyper-resolution
    ecohydrological simulations to quantify blue (runoff) and green (evapotranspiration)
    water fluxes. During the 2003 heatwave, evapotranspiration in large areas over
    the Alps was above average despite low precipitation, amplifying the runoff deficit
    by 32% in the most runoff-productive areas (1,300–3,000 m above sea level). A
    3 °C air temperature increase could enhance annual evapotranspiration by up to
    100 mm (45 mm on average), which would reduce annual runoff at a rate similar
    to a 3% precipitation decrease. This suggests that green-water feedbacks—which
    are often poorly represented in large-scale model simulations—pose an additional
    threat to water resources, especially in dry summers. Despite uncertainty in the
    validation of the hyper-resolution ecohydrological modelling with observations,
    this approach permits more realistic predictions of mountain region water availability.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Theodoros
  full_name: Mastrotheodoros, Theodoros
  last_name: Mastrotheodoros
- first_name: Christoforos
  full_name: Pappas, Christoforos
  last_name: Pappas
- first_name: Peter
  full_name: Molnar, Peter
  last_name: Molnar
- first_name: Paolo
  full_name: Burlando, Paolo
  last_name: Burlando
- first_name: Gabriele
  full_name: Manoli, Gabriele
  last_name: Manoli
- first_name: Juraj
  full_name: Parajka, Juraj
  last_name: Parajka
- first_name: Riccardo
  full_name: Rigon, Riccardo
  last_name: Rigon
- first_name: Borbala
  full_name: Szeles, Borbala
  last_name: Szeles
- first_name: Michele
  full_name: Bottazzi, Michele
  last_name: Bottazzi
- first_name: Panagiotis
  full_name: Hadjidoukas, Panagiotis
  last_name: Hadjidoukas
- first_name: Simone
  full_name: Fatichi, Simone
  id: cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6
  last_name: Fatichi
citation:
  ama: Mastrotheodoros T, Pappas C, Molnar P, et al. More green and less blue water
    in the Alps during warmer summers. <i>Nature Climate Change</i>. 2020;10:155-161.
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5">10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5</a>
  apa: Mastrotheodoros, T., Pappas, C., Molnar, P., Burlando, P., Manoli, G., Parajka,
    J., … Fatichi, S. (2020). More green and less blue water in the Alps during warmer
    summers. <i>Nature Climate Change</i>. Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5</a>
  chicago: Mastrotheodoros, Theodoros, Christoforos Pappas, Peter Molnar, Paolo Burlando,
    Gabriele Manoli, Juraj Parajka, Riccardo Rigon, et al. “More Green and Less Blue
    Water in the Alps during Warmer Summers.” <i>Nature Climate Change</i>. Springer
    Nature, 2020. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5</a>.
  ieee: T. Mastrotheodoros <i>et al.</i>, “More green and less blue water in the Alps
    during warmer summers,” <i>Nature Climate Change</i>, vol. 10. Springer Nature,
    pp. 155–161, 2020.
  ista: Mastrotheodoros T, Pappas C, Molnar P, Burlando P, Manoli G, Parajka J, Rigon
    R, Szeles B, Bottazzi M, Hadjidoukas P, Fatichi S. 2020. More green and less blue
    water in the Alps during warmer summers. Nature Climate Change. 10, 155–161.
  mla: Mastrotheodoros, Theodoros, et al. “More Green and Less Blue Water in the Alps
    during Warmer Summers.” <i>Nature Climate Change</i>, vol. 10, Springer Nature,
    2020, pp. 155–61, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5">10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5</a>.
  short: T. Mastrotheodoros, C. Pappas, P. Molnar, P. Burlando, G. Manoli, J. Parajka,
    R. Rigon, B. Szeles, M. Bottazzi, P. Hadjidoukas, S. Fatichi, Nature Climate Change
    10 (2020) 155–161.
das_tickbox: '1'
date_created: 2026-07-27T12:30:24Z
date_published: 2020-02-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-07T09:15:51Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5
extern: '1'
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0676-5
intvolume: '        10'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '02'
oa_version: None
page: 155-161
publication: Nature Climate Change
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1758-6798
  issn:
  - 1758-678X
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: More green and less blue water in the Alps during warmer summers
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 10
year: '2020'
...