Climate change creates multiple pathways of water contamination. Here we call for defining climate change-driven contaminants as a distinct class and explore their implications.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
IPCC Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2021).
Executive Officer’s Report Item 5 (State of California, Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region, 8 February 2023); https://go.nature.com/4oQvpDr
Storlazzi, C. D. et al. Sci. Adv. 4, eaap9741 (2018).
Alvarez, S., Brown, C. E., Diaz, M. G., O’Leary, H. & Solís, D. J. Environ. Manag. 351, 119811 (2024).
Safe Drinking Water Act 42 U.S.C. Chapter 6A, Subchapter XII: Safety of Public Water Systems (US Congress, 2022).
Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality 4th edn, incorporating the 1st addendum (World Health Organization, 2017).
Viet Nam: Drought and Saltwater Intrusion in the Mekong Delta (United Nations Viet Nam, 2020).
Jiao, Y. et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 58, 20336–20344 (2024).
Archer, E. J. et al. Sci. Rep. 13, 3893 (2023).
Isaacson, K. P. et al. Environ. Sci. Water Res. Technol. 7, 274–284 (2021).
Hohner, A. K., Rhoades, C. C., Wilkerson, P. & Rosario-Ortiz, F. L. Acc. Chem. Res. 52, 1234–1244 (2019).
Otto, F. E. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 48, 813–828 (2023).
Schammel, M. H., Gold, S. J. & McCurry, D. L. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 11, 1247–1253 (2024).
Merchán, D. et al. Sci. Total Environ. 706, 135701 (2020).
Beaulieu, J. J., DelSontro, T. & Downing, J. A. Nat. Commun. 10, 1375 (2019).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Peer review
Peer review information
Nature Sustainability thanks Bin Liang and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tang, Z., Deng, Y. Climate change-driven contaminants in water. Nat Sustain (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01747-x
Published:
Version of record:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01747-x
