Endorheic basins (i.e., land-locked drainage networks) and their lakes can be highly sensitive to variations in climate and adverse anthropogenic activities, such as overexploitation of water resources. In this review paper, we provide a brief overview of one major endorheic basin on each continent, plus a number of endorheic basins in Central Asia (CA), a region where a large proportion of the land area is within this type of basin. We summarize the effects of (changing) climate drivers and land surface–atmosphere feedbacks on the water balance. For the CA region, we also discuss key anthropogenic activities, related water management approaches and their complex relationship with political and policy issues. In CA a substantial increase in irrigated agriculture coupled with negative climate change impacts have disrupted the fragile water balance for many endorheic basins and their lakes. Transboundary integrated land and water management approaches must be developed to facilitate adequate climate change adaptation and possible mitigation of the adverse anthropogenic influence on endorheic basins in CA. Suitable climate adaptation, mitigation and efficient natural resource management technologies and methods are available, and are developing fast. A number of these are discussed in the paper, but these technologies alone are not sufficient to address pressing water resource issues in CA. Food–water–energy nexus analyses demonstrate that transboundary endorheic basin management requires transformational changes with involvement of all key stakeholders. Regional programs, supported by local governments and international donors, which incorporate advanced adaptation technologies, water resource research and management capacity development, are essential for successful climate change adaptation efforts in CA. However, there is a need for an accelerated uptake of such programs, with an emphasis on unification of approaches, as the pressures resulting from climate change and aggravated by human mismanagement of natural water resources leave very little time for hesitation.

The mountains of Central Asia support many environmental functions and ecosystem services. The mountain environments and their services are affected by climate change and climate change adaptation (CCA) actions are required to increase resilience of regional communities. This paper is a systematic review of the English and Russian‐language literature published between 2013 (IPCC AR5) and May 2021 (IPCC AR6) focusing on CCA in the Central Asian mountains. In all, 52 publications have been reviewed. Criteria defining incremental and transformative adaptation were established and the reviewed studies were assigned to one of these approaches. The relatively low number of publications shows that the extent of CCA knowledge represented in academic literature is limited in comparison to other mountainous regions. There is a disparity between the growing body of publications addressing climate change and limited and decreasing number of academic publications focusing on adaptation in the region. Only 11 publications reported transformative adaptation actions. Most of the reviewed papers (55%) focus on water resources and future water availability; 15% focus on land degradation, 10% on changes in vertical zonation of plant species, 7% on loss of plant species, 3% on impacts of hazardous events, and 10% on multiple impacts of climate change. The awareness of the importance of CCA among the regional actors should be improved through closer collaboration between researchers, international organizations focusing on sustainable development and adaptation which have recently become more active in the region, practitioners, and local communities and co‐production of knowledge on the development and implementation of CCA.This article is categorized under: Trans‐Disciplinary Perspectives > Humanities and the Creative Arts Trans‐Disciplinary Perspectives > Humanities and the Creative Arts Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Institutions for Adaptation Assessing Impacts of Climate Change > Observed Impacts of Climate Change

Groundwater in shallow aquifers is commonly used for community water supply in cold climates. Shallow groundwaters are inherently susceptible to contamination from land‐use and surface water intrusion threatening drinking water usage. We used a large‐scale snapshot data set of stable water isotopes from shallow glaciofluvial aquifers used for drinking water supply in Northern Finland to assess surface water intrusion risks and recharge conditions. This data set was supplemented by long‐term stable water isotope precipitation data, Geographic Information System proximity analysis and multivariate statistics. The isotope analysis suggest that a warm season contributes about 60% to the total annual precipitation in the region. This is reflected in the aquifers isotopic composition as it represents an approximately equal mixture of warm and cold season precipitation. Groundwater isotope data normalized to precipitation inputs by line‐conditioned excess (lc‐excess) was used to flag the water supply wells impacted by surface water intrusions. The proximity analysis showed some of the wells may be affected by intrusions from gravel pit ponds, lakes and peatland drainage. On the larger scale, the wells in coastal areas were more likely to have evaporated water (intrusion) compared to inland regions of Northern Finland due to lower water availability and the presence of man‐made structures. This application of stable water isotopes with lc‐excess is a useful approach not only for recharge studies but also within water management for supply well surface water contamination risk assessment.