Freshwater stress and risk

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Freshwater stress and risk. One study suggests that although global water conditions may worsen by 2025 due to population pressure, climate change could have a net positive impact on global water resources. NB! Note that other studies indicate that with present consumption patterns, 2 of every 3 persons on Earth will experience water stress by 2025. The diagram on the left side shows the result of this particular study, indicating the water availability for the population. It should be noted that the study is based on runoff characteristics obtained for one particular climate scenario. Another macroeconomic study (not shown here) based on three climate scenarios led to similar conclusion for the Asian continent while suggesting that in Europe changed climate conditions will be associated with some decrease per capita water availability. The diagram on the right-hand side shows a projection of the population living in increased and decreased water stress under three different CO2 emission scenarios in the 2080s. Climate change is likely to have the greatest impact in countries with a high ratio of relative use to available supply. Regions with abundant water supplies are unlikely to be significantly affected, except for the possibility of increased flooding. Paradoxically, countries that currently have little water (e.g. those relying on desalinization) may be relatively unaffected.

Sources

Climate change 1995, Impacts, adaptations and mitigation of climate change: scientific-technical analyses, contribution of working group 2 to the second assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, UNEP and WMO, Cambridge press univeristy, 1996; Climate change and its impacts, stabilisation of CO2 in the atmosphere, Hadley centre for climate prediction and research, the meteorological office, London, 1999

Link to web-site

http://www.grida.no/publications/vg/climate/page/3092.aspx

Cartographer/
Designer

Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Appears in

Vital Climate Graphics

Published

2000

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