The technical paper
of IPCC on climate change and water clearly shows that water resources especially
fresh water resources are vulnerable and have the potential to be strongly
impacted by climate change. The observational records and climate projects indicate
that the impact will have wide-ranging consequences for human societies and
ecosystems. The impacts such as increased in intensity and variability of
precipitation is projected to aggravate the risks for flooding and drought in
many areas, which in turn is likely to affect water quality and exacerbate many
forms of water pollution.
The impacts of
climate change will affect the livelihood of people globally. It will induce
risks and vulnerabilities in the water using and influencing sectors. It will distress
the sectors like health, agriculture and food security, energy, transport,
water supply and sanitation, industry, mining, etc. Global environment changes
observed throughout the previous decade can be credited to anthropogenically boosted
climate change and the changes related to water include: sea level rise;
melting of snow and ice; changes in the frequency and/or intensity of extreme
weather events; changes to ecosystems and biodiversity patterns. Changes due to
climate change are expected to further aggravate water-related hazards and
water scarcity, increasing the vulnerability of socio-ecological systems.
The impact of
climate change on water resources will be high and substantial in under-developed
and developing countries of Africa and Asia compared to developed countries. Most
of the people of Africa and Asia are engaged in agriculture and livestock and
impact on water availability and quality will have significant impact in these
sectors. This will reduce production significantly and aggravate the food
insufficiency on the people residing in these areas. These regions will be incapable
to adapt climate change due to very limited resources compared to wealthier
nations who can import water if required. A rise of one degree Celsius would
threaten water supplies for 50 million people in these areas and a rise of five
degrees Celsius could cause in the disappearance of large glaciers in the
Himalayas which would affect one quarter of China’s population and millions of India
population.
