Effects of Global Climate Change on Water Resources

Abstract

The most obvious factor causing water scarcity is population increase. The second is global climate change due to global warming and its effect on the water resources of the world. Extraordinary changes in climate are taking place. Global average surface temperature has increased over the twentieth century by about 0.6℃. Emissions of greenhouse gasses and aerosols due to human activities continue to change the atmosphere in ways that are expected to affect the climate. Although there are many uncertainties about the level and impact of climate change due to the greenhouse effect, there can be little doubt that during the twentieth century, humans altered the Earth’s climate by emitting huge quantities of greenhouse gases. In addition, there is little hesitation that climate change will alter the hydrological cycle in a variety of ways. The hydrological system is an integral part of the earth’s geophysical system. As such, it both affects and is affected by climate conditions. In this paper, the effects of climate change on precipitation, evaporation and transpiration, soil moisture, snowfall and snowmelt, groundwater recharge and storage, stream flow, lakes and surface water storage, floods and droughts, and sea level rise are discussed.