water and climate change slobodan p. simonovic professor, department of civil and environmental...

Water and Climate Water and Climate ChangeChange

Slobodan P. SimonovicSlobodan P. SimonovicProfessor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Director Engineering Studies, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction

The University of Western Ontario

Main messagesMain messages

Climate change is hydrologic change Water is embedded in everything we do London will see more floods in the future What can we do?

Manage our water wisely Be green in your yard Use water efficiently Reduce, reuse and recycle

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2 www.slobodansimonovic.com

Hydrologic – water cycleHydrologic – water cycle

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EvaporationTranspirationSublimationCondensationAdvectionPrecipitationSurface RunoffMelt RunoffInfiltrationGroundwater Flow


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Hydrologic cycle and Hydrologic cycle and climateclimate

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Each element of the Hydrologic Cycle is affected by changing climate

Watershed/River Basin/Aquifer/Global

Water is the delivery mechanism for many of the impacts of climate change


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There are general indications that: the present mid-latitude rain belt

would shift northward; snowmelt and spring runoff would

occur earlier than at present; evapotranspiration would be greater,

as it would start earlier and continue longer;

temperature will increase; ….

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Hydrologic cycle and usHydrologic cycle and us

We take water for our needs Water supply Irrigation Industrial use …

We change land use We pollute water

“available water is a function of both quantity and quality…..poor water quality can render water unavailable for many uses.”

….

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1974 1983 2000

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ConsequencesConsequences

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Friday Forum

22Simonovic February 2009

Friday Forum

23Simonovic February 2009

ConsequencesConsequences

Use of Great Lakes water for drinking Over 29 million people (8 million Canadians)

depend on the lakes for drinking water. The quality of the water is already under

stress. The average temperature in the Great Lakes

basin could go up by about 4.5°C by 2055. Higher rates of evaporation and drier soils

would reduce runoff. Water levels in the Great Lakes could fall by an

average of between 0.5 m and 1.0 m.

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ConsequencesConsequences Water quality might also be affected in the following ways:

the dredging needed to offset lower water levels could resuspend toxic chemicals;

higher water temperatures could decrease dissolved oxygen levels and increase the growth of algae and bacteria;

less runoff and stream discharge would reduce the flushing out of bays and dilution of organic matter and chemicals;

lower water levels could cause the disappearance of wetlands, which are valuable habitats;

agricultural and urban expansion would continue to contaminate runoff with fertilizers and toxic chemicals.

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What can we do?What can we do?

Manage the water resource more effectively: to accommodate to its natural variation to cope with the demands of a growing

population to be prepared for changes in the water

supply induced by climate change and to conserve water quality and quantity.

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Increase our flood resiliency: continue to improve forecasting and

warning systems, and evacuation and relief plans;

evaluate and improve existing flood-control structures; and

design new structures to handle more frequent and extreme events.

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On personal level Use water efficiently to reduce the current

335 litres per person use 35% bathing 30% toilet flashing 25% laundry and cleaning 10% cooking and drinking

Be green in your yard Do not buy bottled water Reduce, reuse and recycle

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Can we meet the Can we meet the challenge?challenge?

Climate change is hydrologic change

Hydrologic variability affects terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

Hydrologic variability affects watershed services and human uses

Water is embedded in everything we do

We must work together to find solutions

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water and climate change slobodan p. simonovic professor, department of civil and environmental...

Documents

spring runoff woul

climate changeslobodan

hydrologic changewater

northward snowmelt

department of civil

present midlatitude

general indications

delivery mechanism