Data from Uneven distribution of multi-pollutant hotspots worldwide: river exports to seas and their global change drivers in the future

The research applies the established MARINA-Multi to quantify river exports of nutrients (nitrogen & phosphorus), plastics (micro & macro), and chemicals (triclosan & diclofenac) by sub-basin and source for 2010 and 2050. The study shows that global river exports of pollutants to coastal waters are projected to increase by 2050, though not uniformly across sub-basins or pollutant types, leading to unevenly distributed future multi-pollutant hotspots.

Rapid urbanization drives plastics pollution hotspots in high-income basins, and over 75% of the population in low-income basins is projected to live in future hotspots. These findings underscore the need to address income-based disparities in pollution management and to support basin-based policies for equitable and sustainable water governance. The csv files "Fig2_PDFs_2010_2050", "Fig3_Fig4_hotspot_approaches", "Fig5_hotspot_classified", and "Fig6_hotspot_D_values_per_driver" contain the main results of Micella et al. (XX).