Malin Fredrika Sofia Sundberg-Falkenmark (November 21, 1925, to December 3, 2023) was a Swedish hydrologist. She is best known for her work on using water resources in a way that meets the needs of people and ecosystems. Her research combined studies of nature and human societies to understand water issues. She created the Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator, a tool used to measure how much water is available for human use, which is called water scarcity. She was the daughter of Halvar Sundberg.
Life and career
Falkenmark earned a Fil. Mag. (a master's degree in Sweden) in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and mechanics from Uppsala University in 1951. In 1964, she became the first Fil. Lic. (a PhD equivalent in Sweden at the time) in hydrology in Sweden, where she studied the “Bearing capacity of an ice sheet.” In 1975, she received an honorary PhD (PhD Honoris causa) from Linköping University.
Falkenmark worked as a State Hydrologist at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute during the 1950s and 1960s. Later, she worked at the Swedish Natural Science Research Council from 1965 to 1995, where she became Executive Secretary and later Chair of the Swedish National Committees for UNESCO’s International Hydrological Decade/Programme.
From 1991 to 2003, Falkenmark served as Chair of the Scientific Program Committee at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). During this time, she helped create the annual Stockholm World Water Week (originally called the Stockholm Water Symposium), which became a major global event for discussing water-related issues.
Falkenmark held many international roles, including General Rapporteur of the United Nations Water Conference in Mar del Plata (1977); a World Bank Consultant focused on water scarcity (1988–1992); a member of the UN Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development and the UN Millennium Project Task Force for Environmental Sustainability; a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Water Partnership; and a Scientific Advisor to the Global Environment Facility and the Comprehensive Freshwater Assessment of the World.
Falkenmark was a Professor of Applied and International Hydrology. From 1976 to 1979, she helped plan and develop the Department for Water and Environment Studies at Linköping University. After retiring in 1991, she joined Stockholm University’s Department of Systems Ecology.
In 2007, she became a senior researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Center. She also worked as a senior scientific advisor at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
In 2018, she shared the Blue Planet Prize with ecologist Brian Walker.
Falkenmark passed away on December 3, 2023, at the age of 98.
The Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator
In 1989, Falkenmark created a tool to measure water stress. This tool shows how much renewable freshwater is available for each person in a region each year. It became known as the Falkenmark Indicator. This is one of the first and most commonly used tools to measure how much water is available for people to use.
A country’s water scarcity level is determined by specific amounts of water: If a country has less than 1,700 cubic meters of renewable water per person each year, it is considered to have water stress. If it has less than 1,000 cubic meters, it is considered to have water scarcity. If it has less than 500 cubic meters, it is considered to have absolute water scarcity.
The Blue and Green Water Paradigm
In 1995, Falkenmark introduced the ideas of green and blue water. Green water is described as rainwater that soaks into the area where plant roots grow and helps plants grow. Blue water is the water that flows over the soil surface or moves down through the soil to become groundwater.
Later, green water was explained as water in the soil above the water table, which comes from rain and is used by plants. Blue water includes water found in rivers, lakes, wetlands, and underground water sources that can be used for farming and other human needs. Both types of water are important for growing food. Farming that depends only on rain uses green water, while farming that uses water from other sources, like irrigation, uses both green and blue water.
Selected awards and recognition
- IWRA Ven Te Chow Memorial Award (1991)
- KTH Stora Pris (1995)
- Volvo Environment Prize (1998)
- International Hydrology Prize (1998)
- Rachel Carson Prize (2005)
- Crystal Drop Award (2005)
- Prince Albert II of Monaco Water and Desertification Award (2010)
- Blue Planet Prize (2018)