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# World's population susceptible to water risks is concentrated in two of the 58 IPCC reference regions

## Details

**Authors** Varis et al.

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** npj Natural Hazards

**Discipline** Hydrology

**Secondary disciplines** Environment & Sustainability, Geography

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1038/s44304-026-00256-x) 
10.1038/s44304-026-00256-x

## In authors' words

### Abstract

The use of climate reference regions is a common practice in climate change research and impact assessment studies 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , having been utilized especially within the context of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Assessment Reports (ARs) over the past 25 years. They have been developed and used for synthesizing the regional properties and historical trends of climate, and for climate change projections for the future 4 . Climate reference regions have shown their value and usefulness in providing consistent geographic delineation for showing a high number of interrelated and intricate natural phenomena with complex societal implications in climate change impact assessments 4 , 5 , 6 .

### What they found (results)

East Asia and South Asia — 2 of the IPCC's 58 reference regions, each holding about 21% of world population — together account for roughly two-thirds of the population exposed to groundwater-depletion risk and 60% exposed to flood risk.

## Commentary

### In short

The finding rests on a sharp categorical contrast between two regions and the rest of the world, and on how a global total (population exposed to water risk) decomposes very unevenly into its constituent regional parts.

**Patterns it shows** D, S

**Added** 2026-08-15

**How to cite this** Varis et al. (2026). World's population susceptible to water risks is concentrated in two of the 58 IPCC reference regions. npj Natural Hazards.