Rivers support indispensable ecological functions and human health and infrastructure. Yet limited river sampling hinders our understanding of consequential changes to river systems. Satellite-based estimates of suspended sediment concentration and flux for 414 major rivers reveal widespread global change that is directly attributable to human activity in the past half-century. Sediment trapping by dams in the global hydrologic north has contributed to global sediment flux declines to 49% of pre-dam conditions. Recently, intensive land-use change in the global hydrologic south has increased erosion, with river suspended sediment concentration on average 41 ± 7% greater than in the 1980s. This north-south divergence has rapidly reconfigured global patterns in sediment flux to the oceans, with the dominant sources of suspended sediment shifting from Asia to South America.

中文翻译：

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人类对全球河流悬浮泥沙通量的快速变化

河流支撑着不可或缺的生态功能以及人类健康和基础设施。然而，有限的河流采样阻碍了我们对河流系统随之发生的变化的理解。基于卫星对 414 条主要河流的悬浮泥沙浓度和流量的估计揭示了广泛的全球变化，这直接归因于过去半个世纪的人类活动。全球水文北部的大坝截留泥沙导致全球泥沙通量下降至大坝前状况的 49%。最近，全球水文南部土地利用的剧烈变化加剧了侵蚀，河流悬浮泥沙浓度平均比 1980 年代高 41 ± 7%。这种南北分歧迅速重新配置了流入海洋的沉积物流量的全球模式，