The Role Of Water And The Hydrological Cycle In Global Change

Water is an extremely important factor in global environmental change. Water influences the processes causing change. The human and economic consequences of changes in the water system can be very significant. The aim of this NATO Advanced Study Institute was to present a state-of-the-art assessment of the role of water in global change, ranging from a consideration of atmospheric processes to the social and political impacts of changes in water resources. Many initiatives have recently been developed, such as international conferences and research programmes in particular themes, but there was still a need for information from these diverse activities to be brought together. One of the aims of the ASI was to encourage cross-fertilization between the various disciplines looking at water in the global system. This book contains the expanded written versions of the lectures presented during the AS! held in Italy in May/June 1994. It falls into two basic parts. The first twelve chapters cover the role of water in the climate system and climate modelling. Various areas of the water balance including global budgets, the effect of each element of the water balance on regional and global climates, and procedures used to model hydrological processes at all scales are discussed. Precipitation, ice, lake, groundwater, land surface and atmospheric considerations are included together with hydrological process linkage to climate models. Ocean effects were not covered as they were considered to be outside the scope of this particular AS!.

Beginning with an overview of data and concepts developed in the EU-project HABIT-CHANGE, this book addresses the need for sharing knowledge and experience in the field of biodiversity conservation and climate change. There is an urgent need to build capacity in protected areas to monitor, assess, manage and report the effects of climate change and their interaction with other pressures. The contributors identify barriers to the adaptation of conservation management, such as the mismatch between planning reality and the decision context at site level. Short and vivid descriptions of case studies, drawn from investigation areas all over Central and Eastern Europe, illustrate both the local impacts of climate change and their consequences for future management. These focus on ecosystems most vulnerable to changes in climatic conditions, including alpine areas, wetlands, forests, lowland grasslands and coastal areas. The case studies demonstrate the application of adaptation strategies in protected areas like National Parks, Biosphere Reserves and Natural Parks, and reflect the potential benefits as well as existing obstacles. A general section provides the necessary background information on climate trends and their effects on abiotic and biotic components. Often, the parties to policy change and conservation management, including managers, land users and stakeholders, lack both expertise and incentives to undertake adaptation activities. The authors recognise that achieving the needed changes in behavior – habit – is as much a social learning process as a matter of science-based procedure. They describe the implementation of modeling, impact assessment and monitoring of climate conditions, and show how the results can support efforts to increase stakeholder involvement in local adaptation strategies. The book concludes by pointing out the need for more work to communicate the cross-sectoral nature of biodiversity protection, the value of well-informed planning in the long-term process of adaptation, the definition of acceptable change, and the motivational value of exchanging experience and examples of good practice.

An in-depth overview of the role of the hydrological cycle within the climate system, including climate change impacts on hydrological reserves and fluxes, and the controls of terrestrial hydrology on regional and global climatology. Table of contents : 1. The Role of the Hydrological Cycle in the Climate System 2. Evaporation 3. Physics of Evaporation and Atmospheric Boundary Layers Over Land 4. Precipitation Physics and Rainfall Observation 5. Land Surface Hydrology 6. Land Surface Schemes and Climate Models 7. Arctic and Snow Hydrology 8. Dynamics of Glaciers, Ice Sheets and Global Sea Level 9. Feedback Mechanisms : Precipitation and Soil Moisture 10. Feedback Mechanisms : Land Use, Hydrology and Carbon 11. Palaeohydrology : An Introduction 12. Groundwater Palaeohydrology 13. Global Warming and the Acceleration of the Hydrological Cycle 14. Climate Change and Hydrological Impact Studies 15. Remote Sensing for Hydrological Studies

New research opportunities to advance hydrologic sciences promise a better understanding of the role of water in the Earth system that could help improve human welfare and the health of the environment. Reaching this understanding will require both exploratory research to better understand how the natural environment functions, and problem-driven research, to meet needs such as flood protection, supply of drinking water, irrigation, and water pollution. Collaboration among hydrologists, engineers, and scientists in other disciplines will be central to meeting the interdisciplinary research challenges outline in this report. New technological capabilities in remote sensing, chemical analysis, computation, and hydrologic modeling will help scientists leverage new research opportunities.

Africa is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In particular shortage of fresh water is expected to be the dominant water problem for West and Northwest Africa of the 21th century. In order to solve present and projected future problems concerning fresh water supply, a highly interdisciplinary approach is used in the book. Strategies are offered for a sustainable and future-oriented water management. Based on different scenarios, a range of management options is suggested with the aid of Information Systems and Spatial Decision Support Systems for two river catchments in Northwest and West Africa: the wadi Drâa in south-eastern Morocco and the Ouémé basin in Benin. The selected catchments are representative in the sense: "what can be learnt from these catchments for other similar catchments?

Hydrology and Global Environmental Change presents the hydrological contribution to, and consequences of, global environmental change. Assuming little or no prior knowledge on the part of the reader, the book looks at the main processes of global environmental change - global scale processes, large regional processes, repetitive processes - and how the hydrological cycle, processes and regimes impact on GEC and vice-versa.

This United Nations report examines the current state of knowledge of the world's oceans, for policymakers, and provides a reference for marine science courses.

We live on a dynamic Earth shaped by both natural processes and the impacts of humans on their environment. It is in our collective interest to observe and understand our planet, and to predict future behavior to the extent possible, in order to effectively manage resources, successfully respond to threats from natural and human-induced environmental change, and capitalize on the opportunities â€" social, economic, security, and more â€" that such knowledge can bring. By continuously monitoring and exploring Earth, developing a deep understanding of its evolving behavior, and characterizing the processes that shape and reshape the environment in which we live, we not only advance knowledge and basic discovery about our planet, but we further develop the foundation upon which benefits to society are built. Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation from Space (National Academies Press, 2018) provides detailed guidance on how relevant federal agencies can ensure that the United States receives the maximum benefit from its investments in Earth observations from space, while operating within realistic cost constraints. This short booklet, designed to be accessible to the general public, provides a summary of the key ideas and recommendations from the full decadal survey report.