{{Short description|Swedish hydrologist (1925–2023)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox writer/doc --> | name = Malin Falkenmark | image = Malin Falkenmark.jpg | caption = Falkenmark in 2012 | pseudonym = | birth_name = Malin Fredrika Sofia Sundberg-Falkenmark | birth_date = {{birth date|1925|11|21|df=y}} | birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|12|3|1925|11|21|df=y}} | death_place = | occupation = Hydrologist, professor and author | subject = Water resources, sustainability | website = | Field = }}
'''Malin Fredrika Sofia Sundberg-Falkenmark''' (21 November 1925 – 3 December 2023) was a Swedish hydrologist. Falkenmark is best known for her long-standing work and expertise on the sustainable use of water resources to meet human and ecosystem needs. Her work is characterized by an integration of both natural- and social-science approaches. She is particularly known for developing what is now known as the Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator, an indicator used to measure and describe the water available for human use (water scarcity). She was the daughter of Halvar Sundberg.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/vemardet/1993/0322.html|title=Malin Falkenmark|website=Vem är det|access-date=6 February 2018}}</ref>
== Life and career == Falkenmark graduated as a Fil. Mag. (Swedish equivalent to a master's degree) in mathematics, physics, chemistry and mechanics at Uppsala University, in 1951. In 1964, she became the first Fil. Lic. (Swedish equivalent of PhD at the time) of hydrology in Sweden,<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=http://www.siwi.org/publications/stockholm-water-front-no-4-2014/|title=Falkenmark, Trailblazer|last=Schneider|first=Kerry|work=Waterfront|access-date=5 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033558/http://www.siwi.org/publications/stockholm-water-front-no-4-2014/|archive-date=25 July 2018}} [https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/37072426/waterfront-4-november-2014 Alt URL]</ref> where she studied the “Bearing capacity of an ice sheet”.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.stockholmresilience.org/contact-us/staff/2008-01-10-falkenmark.html|title=Stockholm Resilience Centre Staff Profile - Malin Falkenmark|date=10 January 2008|access-date=6 February 2018|archive-date=30 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830042941/http://www.stockholmresilience.org/contact-us/staff/2008-01-10-falkenmark.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Later in 1975, she was awarded the title of PhD Honoris causa at Linköping University.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rachelcarsonprisen.no/eng/Prize-Winners/Malin-Falkenmark|title=Rachel Carson Prize Winners Profile - Malin Falkenmark|access-date=5 February 2018}}</ref>
Falkenmark's professional history includes holding positions as State Hydrologist at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (1950s-60's), and later at the Swedish Natural Science Research Council (1965–95), where she became Executive Secretary, and later Chair of the Swedish National Committees for [https://en.unesco.org/themes/water-security/hydrology UNESCO’s International Hydrological Decade/Programme].<ref name=":1" />
As the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) (1991–2003),<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.siwi.org/staff-member/prof-malin-falkenmark/|title=Staff profile - Malin Falkenmark|website=Stockholm International Water Institute|access-date=6 February 2018}}</ref> Falkenmark led the establishment of the annual Stockholm World Water Week (initially named Stockholm Water Symposium), which grew to be the "annual focal point for the globe’s water issues".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldwaterweek.org/|title=About the Stockholm World Water Week|website=World Water Week}}</ref>
Falkenmark held numerous posts on international boards and committees, including as General Rapporteur of the United Nations Water Conference Mar del Plata (1977); World Bank Consultant with special responsibility regarding the looming water scarcity (1988–92); member of the UN Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development and the UN Millennium Project Task Force for Environmental Sustainability; member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Water partnership; and Scientific Advisor to the Global Environment Facility and the Comprehensive Freshwater Assessment of the World.<ref name=":1" />
Falkenmark was a Professor of Applied and International Hydrology. Between 1976 and 1979, she led the planning and development of the Department for Water and Environment Studies at Linköping University; after her formal retirement, in 1991, she became part of Stockholm University’s Department of Systems Ecology.<ref name=":2" />
In 2007, she joined the Stockholm Resilience Center as a senior researcher. She was also the senior scientific advisor at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
In 2018, she shared the Blue Planet Prize with ecologist Brian Walker.
Falkenmark died on 3 December 2023, at the age of 98.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 December 2023 |title=Malin Falkenmark, water pioneer and academic mother of water research has passed |url=https://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/general-news/2023-12-06-malin-falkenmark-water-pioneer-and-academic-mother-of-water-research-has-passed.html |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=www.stockholmresilience.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Malin Falkenmark |url=https://www.familjesidan.se/system/funeral_notices/pdfs/001/422/883/original/f5bdebeb-9f3f-464a-8023-2768416284f7-2.pdf?1702464018 |website=Familjesidan |access-date=8 January 2024}}</ref>
== The Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator == In an article published in 1989,<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Falkenmark|first1=Malin|last2=Lundqvist|first2=Jan|last3=Widstrand|first3=Carl|date=1 November 1989|title=Macro-scale water scarcity requires micro-scale approaches|journal=Natural Resources Forum|language=en|volume=13|issue=4|pages=258–267|doi=10.1111/j.1477-8947.1989.tb00348.x|pmid=12317608|issn=1477-8947}}</ref> Falkenmark introduced an indicator for water stress that expresses the level of water scarcity in a certain region as the amount of renewable freshwater that is available for each person each year. It eventually became known as the Falkenmark Indicator,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oamk.fi/~mohameda/materiaali16/Water%20and%20environmental%20management%202015/2011_Brown_Matlock_Water-Availability-Assessment-Indices-and-Methodologies-Lit-Review.pdf|title=A Review of Water Scarcity Indices and Methodologies|last=Matlock|first=Marty D.|website=University of Arkansas - The Sustainability Consortium|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013014517/http://oamk.fi/~mohameda/materiaali16/Water%20and%20environmental%20management%202015/2011_Brown_Matlock_Water-Availability-Assessment-Indices-and-Methodologies-Lit-Review.pdf|archive-date=13 October 2017|url-status=dead|access-date=5 February 2018}}</ref> and is not only one of the earliest, but also one of the most used indicators to measure and describe water availability for human use.
The level of water scarcity in a certain country was determined based on thresholds: If the amount of renewable water in a country is below 1,700 m<sup>3</sup> per person per year, that country is said to be experiencing water stress; below 1,000 m<sup>3</sup> it is said to be experiencing water scarcity; and below 500 m<sup>3</sup>, absolute water scarcity.<ref name=":3" />
== The Blue and Green Water Paradigm == The concepts of green and blue water were first introduced by Falkenmark in 1995, and defined green water as "the rainwater that infiltrates into the root zone and is used for biomass production", and blue water as "the water that either runs off from the soil surface or percolates beyond the root zone to form groundwater".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315884394|title=Taylor & Francis Group|language=en|doi=10.4324/9781315884394|year=2014|last1=Lautze|first1=Jonathan|editor1-first=Jonathan|editor1-last=Lautze|isbn=9781315884394}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Falkenmark|first=Malin|date=November 1995|title=Coping with water scarcity under rapid population growth.|journal=Paper Presented at Conference of SADC Ministers, Pretoria, South Africa|pages=23–24}}</ref>
In a later publication, ''green water'' was defined as the soil water held in the unsaturated zone, formed by precipitation and available to plants, while ''blue water'' refers to liquid water in rivers, lakes, wetlands and aquifers, which can be withdrawn for irrigation and other human uses.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rockström|first1=Johan|last2=Falkenmark|first2=Malin|last3=Karlberg|first3=Louise|last4=Hoff|first4=Holger|last5=Rost|first5=Stefanie|last6=Gerten|first6=Dieter|date=1 July 2009|title=Future water availability for global food production: The potential of green water for increasing resilience to global change|journal=Water Resources Research|language=en|volume=45|issue=7|pages=W00A12|doi=10.1029/2007wr006767|bibcode=2009WRR....45.0A12R|s2cid=58887417 |issn=1944-7973|doi-access=free}}</ref> Both resources are important for food production; rainfed agriculture uses green water only, while irrigated agriculture uses both green and blue water.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Hoff|first1=H.|last2=Falkenmark|first2=M.|last3=Gerten|first3=D.|last4=Gordon|first4=L.|last5=Karlberg|first5=L.|last6=Rockström|first6=J.|title=Greening the global water system|journal=Journal of Hydrology|volume=384|issue=3–4|pages=177–186|doi=10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.06.026|year=2010|bibcode=2010JHyd..384..177H}}</ref> <!--- Falkenmark´s work has been instrumental in demonstrating the importance of green water in global biomass production and its growing importance for feeding a growing global demand for food, as the limits to irrigation have been reached in many regions. She has been an advocate of an integrated green–blue water approach to water scarcity, as it opens up new avenues for research as well as for sustainable development and poverty alleviation<ref name=":5" />. ---> <!---{{Quote |text=“It is a fundamental concept that is still not broadly accepted after all these years. Green water is a key to food production and eliminating hunger. A goal would be to close the yield gap and take an integrated approach between blue and green water management. Water is the bloodstream of the entire biosphere, supporting energy, agriculture, economic development, and ecosystems. It’s a far bigger issue than drinking water, as important as it may be.” |author=Professor Malin Falkenmark |title="Falkenmark, Trailblazer" |source=''Waterfront Magazine #4'' (November 2014) }}--->
== Selected awards and recognition == * IWRA Ven Te Chow Memorial Award (1991) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwra.org/awards/|title = AWARDS – International Water Resources Association}}</ref> * KTH Stora Pris (1995) * Volvo Environment Prize (1998)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.environment-prize.com/laureates/by-year/1998/malin-falkenmark,-david-schindler/|title=Volvo Environment Prize Laureates|website=Volvo Environment Prize}}</ref> * International Hydrology Prize (1998)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iahs.info/About-IAHS/Competition--Events/International-Hydrology-Prize/International-Hydrology-Prize-Winners.do|title=International Hydrology Prize Winners|website=International Association of Hydrological Sciences}}</ref> * Rachel Carson Prize (2005)<ref name=":0" /> * Crystal Drop Award (2005)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwra.org/member/index.php?mainpage=236&page=242&subpage=|title=Crystal Drop Award Recipients|access-date=5 February 2018}}</ref> * Prince Albert II of Monaco Water and Desertification Award (2010)<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/general-news/2010-12-01-falkenmark-praised-for-work-on-water-management.html|title=Falkenmark praised for work on water management|work=Stockholm Resilience Centre News & Events|archive-date=25 July 2018|access-date=6 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033238/http://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/general-news/2010-12-01-falkenmark-praised-for-work-on-water-management.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> * Blue Planet Prize (2018)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.af-info.or.jp/blog/b-info_en/announcing-the-winners-for-2018-blue-planet-prize.html|title=Blue Planet Prize : Blue Planet Prize Top Page - the Asahi Glass Foundation}}</ref>
== References == <references />
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkenmark, Malin}} Category:1925 births Category:2023 deaths Category:Swedish hydrologists Category:Uppsala University alumni Category:Hydrologists Category:Swedish women scientists Category:Scientists from Stockholm