Climatic Change Impact on Water Resources - A Systems Review

Global climate change related to natural and anthropogenic processes has been the topic of many research projects and high-level debates. Despite the ongoing research efforts, the climate predictions cannot be rated any better than speculative or possible scenarios whose probability of occurrence is, at the present stage, impossible to assess. One of the most significant impacts of the "greenhouse effect" is anticipated to be on water resources management, including different elements of the hydrologic cycle, water supply and demand, regional vulnerability, and water quality. Thus, the impact of climate change appears to be an additional component on top of the large number of stressing (existing and likely future) water related problems. The existence of the greenhouse effect, the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, and the rise of corresponding concentrations are certain things. However, impacts become increasingly uncertain as we move towards hydrology and water management. For this analysis, we would need information on much smaller spatial and temporal scales (i.e. a basin, a subbasin, or an agglomeration and the duration of rare, short-lasting events, such as floods, droughts or low flow periods) than used in climate studies. The objective of the present paper is to analyze the climate change impact on water resources from a systems view, to discuss scientific gaps, and to identify the possible future role of IIASA in this subject area. The report discusses the role of different scales and uncertainties, as well as the hydrological perspective of global circulation models. An essential part of the analysis is devoted to the impact of climate change on the hydrologic cycle and water resources. Subsequently, our preparedness for probable global (climate) change is discussed in terms of assessment, planning, design, adaptation, and others. The focus is obviously on water-related response strategies. Finally, the paper identifies four challenging future research areas for IIASA as follows: (1) Central Europe as a case to study climate change impacts on water resources management; (2) The application of a pre-hydrological model to probabilistically assess the rainfall pattern of a river basin; (3) Methodological research to study water management vulnerability with a strong focus on uncertainties (including methods and concepts such as the Delphi technique, Bayesian statistics, reliability resilience, vulnerability, robustness, and surprises); and (4) The impact of climate change on water quality

Regional projections of temperature and precipitation changes: Robustness and uncertainty aspects

This study presents the analysis of bias-corrected projections of changes in temperature and precipitation in the Vistula and Odra basins, covering approximately 90% of the Polish territory and small parts of neighbouring countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The ensemble of climate projections consists of nine regional climate model simulations from the EURO-CORDEX ensemble for two future periods 2021-2050 and 2071-2100, assuming two representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5. The robustness is measured by the ensemble models' agreement on significant changes.We found a robust increase in the annual mean of daily minimum and maximum temperature, by 1-1.4 °C in the near future and by 1.9-3.8 °C in the far future (areal-means of the ensemble mean values). Higher increases are consistently associated with minimum temperature and the gradient of change goes from SWto NE regions. Seasonal projections of both temperature variables reflect lower robustness and suggest a higher future increase in winter temperatures than in other seasons, notably in the far future under RCP 8.5 (by more than 1 °C). However, changes in annual means of precipitation are uncertain and not robust in any of the analysed cases, even though the climate models agree well on the increase. This increase is intensified with rising global temperatures and varies from 5.5% in the near future under RCP 4.5 to 15.2%in the far future under RCP 8.5. Spatial variability is substantial, although quite variable between individual climate model simulations. Although seasonal means of precipitation are projected to considerably increase in all four combinations of RCPs and projection horizons for winter and spring, the high model spread reduces considerably the robustness, especially for the far future. In contrast, the ensemble members agree well that overall, the summer and autumn (with exception of the far future under RCP 8.5) precipitation will not undergo statistically significant changes

Changes in impacts of climate extremes: Human systems and ecosystems

In this chapter, two different types of impacts on human and ecological systems are examined: (i) impacts of extreme weather and climate events; and (ii) extreme impacts triggered by less-than-extreme weather or climate events (in combination with non-climatic factors, such as high exposure and/or vulnerability). Where data are available, impacts are examined from sectoral and regional perspectives

Recurrent Governance Challenges in the Implementation and Alignment of Flood Risk Management Strategies: a Review

In Europe increasing flood risks challenge societies to diversify their Flood Risk Management Strategies (FRMSs). Such a diversification implies that actors not only focus on flood defence, but also and simultaneously on flood risk prevention, mitigation, preparation and recovery. There is much literature on the implementation of specific strategies and measures as well as on flood risk governance more generally. What is lacking, though, is a clear overview of the complex set of governance challenges which may result from a diversification and alignment of FRM strategies. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap. It elaborates on potential processes and mechanisms for coordinating the activities and capacities of actors that are involved on different levels and in different sectors of flood risk governance, both concerning the implementation of individual strategies and the coordination of the overall set of strategies. It identifies eight overall coordination mechanisms that have proven to be useful in this respect

Large-scale hydrological modelling and the Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive of the European Union - 10th Workshop on Large-Scale Hydrological Modelling

In December 2000, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union (EU) was enforced (EC, 2000) to provide a new legislative basis for water management in Europe. The main goal of the WFD is the implementation of river basin water management plans in which comprehensive studies of the current status of the surface and ground water bodies must be reported and management programs must be enforced with cost-effective measures with which a good ecological condition of the water bodies can be attained and sustained