The globalization of Mediterranean agriculture: A long-term view of the impact on water consumption
研究了20世纪地中海国家农业出口专业化对水资源的影响，发现虚拟水出口扩张加剧了蓝色水压力，且区域差异显著，西班牙是主要出口国。
The countries in the Mediterranean basin increasingly specialized in Mediterranean agricultural products for exports throughout the twentieth century. In this context, the main objective of this paper is to quantify and discuss on the impacts that this growing Mediterranean exports specialization generated on water resources over the last century. To that aim, we focus on the water embodied in Mediterranean exports, the trends followed by dams' construction and the area equipped for irrigation as well as on the evolution of blue water stress. Our findings point at an intense expansion of Mediterranean virtual water exports between 1910 and 2010 that went along with the construction of water infrastructure. It enabled water-intensive crops to be grown in arid regions, but also, exacerbated blue water stress. We also find important regional divergences, highlighting the role of Spain as a super exporter of Mediterranean crops. Finally, we observe that the trends and patterns of trade flows and the subsequent pressures on water resources are highly conditioned by political, economic and technological developments.