This focus issue has therefore been assembled to expand upon the currently limited knowledge of groundwater systems and their links with climate. Many of the papers included here explore the interrelated issues of groundwater resources, climate-related changes and vulnerabilities at a regional scale in different continents and globally.

Contents

Editorial
C Isabella Bovolo, Geoff Parkin and Marios Sophocleous

Groundwater: from mystery to management
T N Narasimhan

Simulated response of groundwater to predicted recharge in a semi-arid region using a scenario of modelled climate change
M W Toews and D M Allen

Long-term climatic change and sustainable ground water resources management
Hugo A Loáiciga

Climate change and groundwater: India's opportunities for mitigation and adaptation
Tushaar Shah

Vulnerability to the impact of climate change on renewable groundwater resources: a global-scale assessment
Petra Döll

Influence of soil heterogeneity on evapotranspiration under shallow water table conditions: transient, stochastic simulations
Stefan J Kollet

Nutrient cycling and N2O emissions in a changing climate: the subsurface water system role
Georgia Destouni and Amélie Darracq

Rainfall intensity and groundwater recharge: empirical evidence from the Upper Nile Basin
M Owor, R G Taylor, C Tindimugaya and D Mwesigwa

This focus issue is not yet complete, there are still letters at press and in review.