thematic presentation climate change impacts on water ...€¦ · 1978 2008 glacier shorong, nepal...
TRANSCRIPT
Thematic Presentation
Climate Change Impacts on Water cycle and
Ecosystems
Overview
•Climaticchange willstronglyimpacts
surface and groundwater
–Quantity
–Seasonality
–Quality(aquaticecosystemsand potential
healthhazards)
•Additionalpressures on water include:
–Demographics
–Management of extremeevents(floodsand
droughts)
WATCH:Water and Global Change
Irrigated areas of the World
WATCH has developed:
•A new global (0.5 degree)
data set to drive and assess
hydrological models
•New land surface data sets
(soils, irrigation, water use
etc)
•Flood and drought catalogues
•New methodologies to assess
hydrological extremes
•The WaterMIPmodel inter-
comparison
Clim
ate change and impact research:
the Mediterranean Environment
•CIRCE:First
assessment of
climate change
impacts in the
Mediterranean
and their
consequences to
society and the
economy
•CIRCE-w
ater:
Identification of
adaptation
strategies,
support policy
1978
2008
Glacier Shorong, Nepal
HIGHNOON:
Adaptation to changing water resources availability in
Northern India with Himalayan glacier retreat and
changing m
onsoon
•Assessment of impact of Himalayan
glaciers retreat and possible changes of
the Indian summer monsoon on the
spatial and temporal distribution of
water resources of the Ganga
•Recommendations for appropriate
response strategies for adaptation to
hydrological extreme events, including
droughts, floods and glacier lakes
outburst floods
•Improvement of climate forecast skills at
regional scale
•Integration of socio-economic drivers in
climate change studies
ACQWA
ACQWA
ACQWA
ACQWA:
Vulnerability of water resources and use to climatic
changes in vulnernablemountain regions
AssessingClimate
impacts on the
Quantity
and quality
of WAter
•Projectionsby integrated earth-
system models (climate-cryosphere-
biosphere-hydrology) of changing
water patterns in mountain regions
where snow and ice are a key
component in the hydrological cycle
•Assessmentsof the impacts of
changing hydrological features on a
range of environmental (e.g., extreme
events, such as floods, droughts, and
geomorphologic hazards) and socio-
economic systems (e.g., agriculture,
energy, tourism, mining)
•Analysesof water governance in
different political contexts (Europe,
Andes, Central Asia) in order to
reduce rivalries and conflicts between
economic actors facing major changes
in water availability and quality
�New tools and approaches to understand
groundwater flow pathways using tracers and
isotopes coupled with modelling
�Pollutant leaching processes, including from
agriculture, contaminant transport mechanisms,
pollutants in groundwater
�Role of groundwater in ecosystems in
particularly related to hydrology and biodiversity
�Development of integrated modelling
approaches for groundwater management
�Numerical and other type of models for
predict impacts of climate variation and change
on groundwater hydrology, pollution pathways,
groundwater surface water interaction and
socio-economic impacts
GENESIS:
Groundwater and dependent ecosystems: New Scientific and
Technical Basis for Assessing Climate Change and Land-use Impacts
on Groundwater Systems
•to improve our understanding of how groundwater interacts within
the global water cycle, how it supports ecosystems and
humankind and, in turn, responds to the impacts of climate
change.
•to promote consideration of groundwater in the use of climate
change information as a contribution to adaptation and advancing
climate prediction;
•to initiate dialogue between groundwater and climate scientists at
the global level; and
•to raise awareness within the climate community of climate-
related groundwater research activities
GRAPHIC
Gro
undw
ate
r R
esourc
es A
ssessm
ent
under
the P
ressure
s
of H
um
anity a
nd C
lim
ate
Change
�Ecologicalrelevant thresholds and
dynamic reference conditions in streams,
riparianwetlands, and lakes.
�New systemindicators for freshwaters
sensitive to the functional response of rivers,
lakes and wetlands to changes in physical
and biogeochemical features.
�Newtools for assessing vulnerability to
climate change which take into account both
site specific threatsand threatsassociated
with connectivity, dispersal, andmigration.
�Asystem basedon model chains that will
enable water managers to design cost-
effective restoration programmesfor
freshwater ecosystems.
REFRESH
REFRESH
REFRESH
REFRESH:
Adaptive strategies to m
itigate
the impactsof
climate
changeon European freshwaterecosystems
�Characterisation of temporary streams
for the Mediterranean region and setting
of specific reference conditions for the
related ecosystems
�Testing of relevant measures and
recommendations for integrative
catchment management for floods and
drought periods
�Development of scenario analyses
examining water scarcity impacts due to
climate change and land-use change as
well as threats to ecosystems
16 p
art
ners
fro
m E
uro
pe
–In
tern
ational part
ner:
Moro
cco
MIRAGE:
Mediterranean Intermittent River Management
CC impacts on intermittent rivers
«Win the wetlandand
youwin
the river basin»
Wetlands
•Natural water infrastructure
•Adaptation to global change
•Buffering disasters
•But threatened & degrading
WETwin focus:
•Integration of wetlands into river basin
management
•Improved understanding of goods &
services for livelihood
•Evaluation of management options
•Trade-offs and vulnerability to global
change
Perspectives
and outcomes
•Research
•Policy implications
•Communication of scientific
information
Research
•Integrated models for improved system understanding, using
ensembles approaches
•Consistent analyses of the water cycle and surface and ground-water
resources for the 20thand 21stcenturies at the global and regional
scales
•Improved understanding of extremes and their direct and indirect
consequences on water availability and quality
–Floods, droughts; Slope instabilities; Glacier retreat and outburst floods
•A new understanding of land surface/clim
ate feedbacks
•Focus on the role of society and economy on water needs and water
use
•Scenario-based approaches to explore particular vulnerabilities of
water (e.g., Mediterranean, mountains, groundwater, wetlands), to
clim
atic and non-clim
atic (e.g., land-use) factors
•Projections of socio-economic drivers of changes in water resources
•Indicators to assess socio-economic, environmental and ecological
impacts of changes in freshwater resources on water system
services
•Developmentofthe science necessary to sustain freshwater
ecosystems
Policy implications
•Assessingdifferentpolicy-relevant options to reduce water deficits
within sectors and to equitably and efficiently distribute wateramong
users and sectors
•Harm
onizing the consideration of loads and non-point source
pollution control in River Basin Management Plans (RBMP)
•Supporting the integration of water scarcity management in RBMP
•Definition of whether sustainable groundwater abstraction is
possible under non-stationary hydrological conditions
•Using wetlands for restoration and flood buffering
•Recommendations for improved water governance strategies across
sectors and scales
•Recommendations of methods for integrated management of
aquatic, groundwater-dependent, and wetland ecosystems
Communication of
scientificresults
•Increased awareness about the future of Europe’s water
resources to provide support to policies and as a starting
point for water visions and strategic planning
•Inform
ation on contaminants in groundwater for the
update of the EU groundwater directive
•Integration of inputs from s
takehold
ers
at both pan-
European and river basin level to enrich storylines
development
•Inform
ation on projections and revision of water
management plans, inter alia
for the IPCC and UN-ISDR
•Web-based tools to support water scenario development
processes
Thankyoufor your
attention!
Workshop
announcement
WORKSHOP ON SCIENCE AND DATA GAPS
IN EU W
ATER-RELATED PROJECTS
Info on www.acqwa.ch, under«Meetings»
Riederalp, Switzerland
January12-15, 2011