New Atlas Maps Human, Climate Effects on Rivers

Five-year project aims to create definitive global record of changes to river systems over 75 years

Mar. 24, 2026 at 12:31am

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A new $5 million project led by Cornell University professor Stefano Galelli will create a global atlas tracking changes in river discharge, sediment transport, temperature and fish biodiversity in all the world's rivers from 1950 to 2025. The Dynamic Atlas of Riverine Ecosystems and Infrastructure (DARE) will use satellite data and computational modeling to pinpoint what changes have occurred, when and where, and who or what is driving them, as well as quantify the ecological consequences.

Why it matters

Rivers are critical resources that affect everything from watersheds to agriculture to energy, but they have also been heavily impacted by human activities like the construction of dams and wells. This atlas will provide the first globally coherent dataset on how humans have affected rivers, which is essential for guiding future restoration efforts and planning for the impacts of climate change.

The details

The five-year DARE project will combine techniques in hydrology, ecology, remote sensing and computational modeling to create the global atlas. The first stage is to develop a hydrologic model that simulates the relationship between climate, humans and rivers since 1950 while accounting for changes in water management practices. The researchers plan to study the Amazon and Mekong rivers to fine-tune their model, and World Wildlife Fund researchers will work with local stakeholders to understand how the atlas can guide restoration efforts.

  • The DARE project received a $5 million grant from Schmidt Sciences in 2026.
  • The atlas will track changes in rivers from 1950 to 2025.

The players

Stefano Galelli

Associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University's Duffield College of Engineering, and the lead researcher on the DARE project.

Alexander Flecker

Professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and a co-PI on the DARE project.

Carla P. Gomes

The Ronald and Antonia Nielsen Professor in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, and a collaborator on the DARE project.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Researchers from WWF will work with local stakeholders and policymakers to understand how the DARE atlas can be used to guide river restoration efforts.

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What they’re saying

“Essentially, this a global product that provides high spatio-temporal resolution reanalysis of river discharge, along with key bio-physical processes like water temperature, sediment and fish biodiversity.”

— Stefano Galelli, Associate professor of civil and environmental engineering

“You cannot do a perfect mathematical model of a river, and definitely there is uncertainty in a lot of factors, like how the upstream dams were operating, or which type of crop did they use in 1975. That will definitely influence how much they irrigated, and therefore how much water you have in a river.”

— Stefano Galelli, Associate professor of civil and environmental engineering

What’s next

The researchers plan to study the Amazon and Mekong rivers to fine-tune their model and ensure they are accurately capturing the river processes.

The takeaway

This atlas will provide the first globally coherent dataset on how humans have affected rivers over the past 75 years, which is essential for guiding future restoration efforts and planning for the impacts of climate change on these critical water resources.