Water scarcity

About: Water scarcity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11579 publications have been published within this topic receiving 228756 citations. The topic is also known as: water shortage.

Integrated Water Resources Management: Evolution, Prospects and Future Challenges

Abstract: This paper analyzes the evolution of the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at international conferences over the past three decades and addresses the prospects of IWRM in resolving the current water crisis. It also identifies seven crucial challenges to implementing IWRM. Our rivers and aquifers are the life-blood of the planet. To achieve sustainable development, we must manage our most vital natural resource, water, in an integrated manner, or precisely through Integrated Water Resources Management. Since water is fundamental to many aspects of life, and to the surrounding natural environment, there is a need not only to review IWRM’s evolution in the last three decades, but also to identify future challenges to its implementation.

How inequitable is the global distribution of responsibility, capability, and vulnerability to climate change: A comprehensive indicator-based assessment

Abstract: While it is generally asserted that those countries who have contributed least to anthropogenic climate change are most vulnerable to its adverse impacts some recently developed indices of vulnerability to climate change come to a different conclusion. Confirmation or rejection of this assertion is complicated by the lack of an agreed metric for measuring countries’ vulnerability to climate change and by conflicting interpretations of vulnerability. This paper presents a comprehensive semi-quantitative analysis of the disparity between countries’ responsibility for climate change, their capability to act and assist, and their vulnerability to climate change for four climate-sensitive sectors based on a broad range of disaggregated vulnerability indicators. This analysis finds a double inequity between responsibility and capability on the one hand and the vulnerability of food security, human health, and coastal populations on the other. This double inequity is robust across alternative indicator choices and interpretations of vulnerability. The main cause for the higher vulnerability of poor nations who have generally contributed little to climate change is their lower adaptive capacity. In addition, the biophysical sensitivity and socio-economic exposure of poor nations to climate impacts on food security and human health generally exceeds that of wealthier nations. No definite statement can be made on the inequity associated with climate impacts on water supply due to large uncertainties about future changes in regional water availability and to conflicting indicators of current water scarcity. The robust double inequity between responsibility and vulnerability for most climate-sensitive sectors strengthens the moral case for financial and technical assistance from those countries most responsible for climate change to those countries most vulnerable to its adverse impacts. However, the complex and geographically heterogeneous patterns of vulnerability factors for different climate-sensitive sectors suggest that the allocation of international adaptation funds to developing countries should be guided by sector-specific or hazard-specific criteria despite repeated requests from participants in international climate negotiations to develop a generic index of countries’ vulnerability to climate change.

The Potential Role of Neglected and Underutilised Crop Species as Future Crops under Water Scarce Conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Abstract: Modern agricultural systems that promote cultivation of a very limited number of crop species have relegated indigenous crops to the status of neglected and underutilised crop species (NUCS). The complex interactions of water scarcity associated with climate change and variability in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and population pressure require innovative strategies to address food insecurity and undernourishment. Current research efforts have identified NUCS as having potential to reduce food and nutrition insecurity, particularly for resource poor households in SSA. This is because of their adaptability to low input agricultural systems and nutritional composition. However, what is required to promote NUCS is scientific research including agronomy, breeding, post-harvest handling and value addition, and linking farmers to markets. Among the essential knowledge base is reliable information about water utilisation by NUCS with potential for commercialisation. This commentary identifies and characterises NUCS with agronomic potential in SSA, especially in the semi-arid areas taking into consideration inter alia: (i) what can grow under water-scarce conditions, (ii) water requirements, and (iii) water productivity. Several representative leafy vegetables, tuber crops, cereal crops and grain legumes were identified as fitting the NUCS category. Agro-biodiversity remains essential for sustainable agriculture.

Clear water, blue skies : China's environment in the new century

Abstract: Since 1978 China's economy has produced economic growth rates making it one of the fastest growing economies. In the same period, China's environment has deteriorated significantly. Rapid urbanization and industrialization have generated enormous volumes of air and water pollutants, lowering air and water quality. China's urban population soared, moving more Chinese closer to industrial smokestacks and residential emissions and increasing the number of people exposed to polluted urban air and water. This report focuses on two of China's most pressing environmental concerns -air and water pollution- and their relation to economic growth. Specifically, it addresses three questions: What are the costs of pollution in China today? Will future economic growth impair or improve air and water quality? And what policies are needed now to ensure that rising incomes translate into a higher environmental standard of living for current and future generations? Chapter one estimates the costs of pollution -urban air pollution, indoor air pollution, water pollution, and lead pollution- on health (premature deaths and sicknesses); and assesses the damage to productive resources and urban infrastructure. Chapter two examines the economic reforms and environmental policies that can hold pollution costs in check. Various scenarios are presented: the business-as-usual scenario and alternative scenarios that increase fuel substitutions, improve energy efficiency and conservation and diversify energy supplies, invest in air pollution control, develop public transportation systems and discourage vehicle use, raise the abatement rate for industrial water pollution, and increase the coverage and level of municipal wastewater treatment. Chapter three concentrates on improving efficiency and developing coal alternatives, and controlling emissions by industrial, power, commercial, and household sources. Chapter four focuses on China's need to revamp its regulatory system to harness market forces and reorient new investment to safeguard the environment. Chapter five argues that China should shape its urban environmental destiny by both using the conventional pollution control policies and harnessing its own considerable administrative and coordinating capacity in transportation management and municipal planning. Water shortages and water pollution, two main water-related constraints to China's socioeconomic development, are the focus of Chapter six. Finally, Chapter seven encourages China to turn its assets into advantages for preserving and improving its environment and securing higher environmental living standards.