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Riverine heatwaves are an emergent climate change risk

Nature Water volume 3, pages 1356–1364 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Sustained periods of anomalously warm river water temperature, known as riverine heatwaves, can negatively impact river ecosystems and socioeconomic activities. With climate change, these heatwaves are likely to become more severe and frequent. Even though the main drivers of water temperature are well understood, we only have a limited understanding of how the different hydro-climatic processes that drive riverine heatwaves interact. This lack of knowledge is particularly striking given that anticipated increases in the frequency and severity of riverine heatwaves may progressively increase the vulnerability of ecological and anthropogenic systems. To better understand how riverine heatwaves may evolve in a changing climate, we propose focused research efforts to develop large-sample datasets, enhance our understanding of the processes involved in riverine heatwave development, and improve water temperature models. Such efforts require a strong community and will support mitigation and adaptation measures in relation to these increasingly frequent extreme events.

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Fig. 1: Potential impacts of riverine heatwaves.
Fig. 2: Schematic overview of the drivers of river water temperature.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Swiss National Science Foundation for supporting this Perspective through the project ‘Riverine heatwaves under climate change (RiHeat)’ (project TMSGI2_218486, granted to M.I.B.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland

    Amber van Hamel, Giulia Bruno, Corentin Chartier-Rescan, Corinna Frank, Maria H. Grundmann & Manuela I. Brunner

  2. Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Amber van Hamel, Giulia Bruno, Corentin Chartier-Rescan, Corinna Frank, Maria H. Grundmann & Manuela I. Brunner

  3. Climate Change, Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC, Davos Dorf, Switzerland

    Amber van Hamel, Giulia Bruno, Corentin Chartier-Rescan, Corinna Frank, Maria H. Grundmann & Manuela I. Brunner

  4. Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    David M. Hannah

  5. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    David M. Hannah

  6. Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

    Cornelia W. Twining

  7. Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Cornelia W. Twining

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  1. Amber van Hamel
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  2. Giulia Bruno
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  8. Manuela I. Brunner
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Correspondence to Amber van Hamel.

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van Hamel, A., Bruno, G., Chartier-Rescan, C. et al. Riverine heatwaves are an emergent climate change risk. Nat Water 3, 1356–1364 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-025-00541-5

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