Suchergebnisse

This essay argues three propositions: (1) by 2025 roughly one third of the world's population will be living in countries which are water-stressed, at least by conventional criteria; (2) nevertheless, macro evidence does not portend that the world will be unable to feed its growing population at that time; (3) interstate armed conflicts over water, which were not very important in the last quarter of the twentieth century, seem unlikely to become more intense in the coming decades, especially since most countries have not utilized the enormous possibilities for saving scarce water.

AbstractWater stress is a growing concern in Europe, partly due to the changing climate context. Despite the cross-cutting impacts that water availability has on different areas under the competence of the European Union (EU), there is not currently a comprehensive and systematic legal framework addressing this issue. The purpose of this article is therefore to examine the EU legislation that concerns the measures aimed at mitigating these risks. To this purpose, it is first examined how droughts and water scarcity are framed within EU legal acts. Based on such an overview, the analysis is directed to the mechanisms developed at the EU level for monitoring, identifying and forecasting water stress risks, as well as the legal provisions relating to the planning tools. The remainder of the article is devoted to the regulation of preventative measures for water scarcity and drought risk reduction, following the water hierarchy resulting from COM(2007) 414.

In Russia as a whole, climate change has led to higher temperatures, permafrost thawing, human health impacts due to extreme heat, and higher incidence of forest fires and other natural disasters, among other country-wide consequences. Warming associated with a changing climate is best viewed as a risk multiplier that will exacerbate existing environmental stresses in locally nuanced ways. The most significant impacts of climate change in the Republic of Kalmykia, located in Russia's southwest, are distinct from those visible nationally and include desertification and increased pressure on an already low-quality water supply.

Introduction -- PART I: Virtual Water and Water Footprint Accounting -- The Concepts of Virtual Water and Water Footprint -- Water Footprint Accounting Method -- PART II: Evaluation of Water Stresses Based on WFs -- Studies on the Evaluation of Water Footprints at Various Regional Scales -- Principal Water Stress Analysis Indexes and Approaches Based on WFs -- PART III: Study Cases: Water Stress Evaluation Under Multiple Regional Scales -- Study Cases: Water Stresses Evaluation at the Provincial Scale —the Zhejiang Province Case Study -- Study Case: Evaluation of Water Stresses at the River Basin Scale — the Haihe River Basin Case Study -- Case Study: Evaluation of Water Stresses at the City Scale —Dalian -- Comparisons of the Major Indexes on Water Stresses Analysis under Multiple Regional Scales -- PART IV: Water Footprint Accounting Application in Water Management Strategies -- Influencing Factors Analysis of Water Footprint Based on Extended STIRPAT Model -- Optimal Water Utilization and Allocation Strategy based on Water Footprint Accounting -- Conclusions

2 páginas -- Póster presentado en el PHASEOMICS VI Meeting, celebrado en Pontevedra, España, en mayo del 2009, organizado por la Misión Biológica de Galicia (MBG) - CSIC y la Asociación Española de Leguminosas (AEL). ; This research was supported by the projects PGIDIT06RAG40301PR and INCITE 07PXI403088ES from the Galician Government. ; Peer reviewed

In this thesis we study the interaction between biodiversity and near surface groundwater, during water stress by first characterizing the study area in terms of groundwater and soil water geochemical processes and hydrogeology in a large-scale biodiversity experiment. We also investigated the spatial and seasonal variation of groundwater chemical composition and the effect of the river Saale on the groundwater of the main experimental field before relating to diversity. Interpretation of the groundwater hydrochemical data using statistical technique showed that groundwater-geological matrix interaction, and redox- and redox-sensitive elements are the dominant factors that resulted in variation of the chemical data set. Calcite, dolomite, quartz, and siderite are found to be reactive minerals and are responsible for changes in chemical composition. Analysis of the spatial variation of the groundwater chemical composition of the experimental field showed that sampled plots BIIIA02, BIIIA13 have relatively different chemical composition from other plots. The comparison of chemical composition of the groundwater of our study area with the groundwater hosted in various hydrogeologic formation shows that, the groundwater in most of the plots of the study area have similar hydrochemical signature with the Upper Buntsandstein. Water isotope of the groundwater results also shows that most of the ground waters in wells of plots BIIIA13 and BIIIA02 are more enriched than that in other plots. PHREEQC results showed that river Saale at mean flow did not have significant effect on the groundwater chemistry. Chloride concentration measured at the inlet of the channel and in groundwater shows that the channel did not leak and therefore has no effect on the groundwater. The upward chloride transport during water stress could not show a clear correlation with the aboveground diversity However, we could see a positive correlation of leaf area index and chloride accumulation.

Water scarcity is a global risk that could arguably be mitigated by using water more efficiently, that is, increasing water's productivity. However, the effects of water productivity on water stress have not been empirically tested or validated across countries. Evidence from other natural resource sectors suggests that improving productivity may, in fact, lead to "rebound" effects that exacerbate resource exploitation. An econometric analysis is used to evaluate the relationship between water stress and productivity at the country level. A 1.0% increase in productivity is associated with a 0.81% decrease in water stress through time within a country, on average, and accounts for 75% of the variance of water stress. This suggests that targeting improvements in productivity have the ability to lower water stress. Analysis of trends in stress and productivity demonstrates that several developed countries are starting to exhibit decreasing trends in stress. Conversely, stress is low in developing countries, but rising. Productivity is generally increasing across all countries. Fixed effects panel regressions demonstrate that population, cultivated land, and political stability are also related to a variance in stress within a country. Differences in gross domestic product and precipitation explain variations in stress when looking across countries. The results of this analysis show that as a country develops, water stress is initially likely to increase. Increasing water productivity, which typically occurs later in a country's development pathway, is linked to decreasing stress, so water stress has the potential to be mitigated if a "productivity transition" were to take place sooner.

AbstractSub‐Saharan Africa is considered one of the hotspots most likely to be affected by water problems due to the region's heavy reliance on agriculture. This study has three objectives. First, it aims to assess the driving factors that influence environmental performance in Sub‐Saharan countries. Second, it investigates the impact of water scarcity on sustainable development in sub‐Saharan nations by utilizing available data on the environmental performance index (EPI) from 2000 to 2010, which is the only complete and accessible time series. Third, it seeks to identify the effect of carbon dioxide emissions on the EPI. To achieve these objectives, the study employs an empirical dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and a panel of selected countries in sub‐Saharan Africa to examine long‐term equilibrium and short‐term adjustments. The results indicate a positive correlation between population growth and EPI in Angola, Cameroon, Ghana, and South Africa. In the long term, the population coefficient exhibits a negative and significant relationship with EPI. Maternal mortality rates were found to have 1% relevance, while health spending was deemed irrelevant. Both carbon emissions and the proportion of the population with improved water sources had a negative and significant impact on the environmental index. The findings underscore the conflicts between water demand and other explanatory variables on water stress in sub‐Saharan countries. Thus, the study recommends the urgent formulation of regional policies to effectively safeguard future generations from the threat of water poverty.