Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources in Australia - Case Study Example

According to Metasoma et al. (2007), rising sea levels as a result of melting ice sheets lead to serious impacts on coastal aquifers, which offer substantial water supply to many cities as well as other users. Global warming has an impact on the nature of water temperatures, which has a substantial impact on throng flood the recycling of matter in the water Temperature tri-sector riser often leads to algae bloom and thus eutrophication of the water resource, thus decreasing biodiversity in the water ecosystems.

This ultimately affects the quality and composition of water in lakes and rivers as a result of changes in precipitation and temperature due to climate change (Nicholls 2005). Extreme and erratic weather patterns have become more frequent and intense in many regions in the recent past. Changes in demography, movement, and settlement have continually predisposed more people to these extreme weather patterns of cyclones, flooding, and droughts. Flooding has led to huge losses while the droughts and high temperatures experienced in many regions have been related to reduced precipitation and higher temperatures.

  According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 20the 01), temperature increase in the climate system is equivocality that momentous rise in global average atmospheric temperatures (~+10C), ocean surface temperature (~+10C), and rise in level (~+150 mm) recorded since 1960. The majority of these observed changes in global mean temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is attributed to a rise in anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, thus resulting in discernible impacts on other climate system aspects, and also on both physical and economic systems.

The increase in greenhouse gases is a result of increased global economic activities and changes in the demographic pattern as wells population increase, which may likely increase further the GHG emissions, resulting in a faster climate change over the Newhall-century Walsh, Hennessy & Pittock 2001). Scenarios refer to the diverse images depicting thither future climate systems might unfold and thus can be adopted as a tool for analyzing the nationalizing driving forces that may influence future GHGs emission outcomes as well as other related uncertainties.

Future greenhouse gas emissions are a product of very intricate dynamic systems and their future genesis is highly unpredictable. Zhang et al. (1999) asserts that water remains the premium medium through which early impacts of climatic change can be felt by ecosystems, people, and economies. Both climatic projections and weather observational records offer strong evidence that water resources are vulnerable, and have the chance to be hugely impacted. However, the consequences on water resources by climatic changes have not been fully addressed on either water policy or scientific analysis.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change asserts in its Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC ) that “The Earth’s climate system has demonstrably changed on both global and regional scales since the pre-industrial era, with much of this change attributed to human activities.” The unprecedented rate of global temperature increases measured during the 20th century has been highest in the last 30 years. According to the IPCC, the majority of this increase can be attributed to human induced activities (IPCC 1996).

This sharp increase in the global mean atmospheric and Earth’s surface temperature is associated with the greenhouse effect as an impact of continued emission of the greenhouse gases (IPCC 2001). High global temperatures are just one of the impacts of human-induced activities on climatic equilibrium of the Earth, with other instances being seen of droughts, alterations of the precipitation patterns, stormy weather, ocean temperature and acidity, rise in sea level, etc. Projections of numerical and computer models depict that this trend is most likely to be confirmed in the near future.

Such climatic changes are directly impacting global and regional water resources, and if the tendency continues these consequences will become even more aggressive in the near future (Hansen 2000). This paper seeks to address some of these gaps. This dissertation, however, does not present new research; rather it focuses on what has already been researched about the relationship between climatic changes and water resources, drawing on both literature emanating from scientific and non- scientific studies.

The report is intended for a wide range of decision makers both in private and public life. 1.2 Background In order to fully comprehend the impacts of climate change, the developed a wide range of scenarios in their Fourth Assessment Report (referred to as Special Report on Emissions or SRES scenarios) based on a number of varying assumptions and postulates of the main economic, physical, demographic, technological, and economic driving forces of GHG emissions within diverse probable pathways of global and geo- economic and geo-economic development.

The IPCC (2001) eventually developed four benchmark scenario cases, namely A1B, A2, B1 and B2, which were taken to represent an extensive range of future world development pathways and the resultant GHGs emissions, shown in Table 1 and Figure 1.1, as well as encompass a significant portion of the underlying fundamental uncertainties in the major driving force of emissions. Scenario Family Storyline A1 Refers to a scenario of future world characterised by global population that tips in the mid 21st century and descending thereafter, and a high economic growth.

A2 This scenario depicts a very heterogeneous world with a progressively increasing world population and regionally inclined economic growth which is slower and more fragmented than in other scenarios. B1 The scenario points out a convergent world with an equal population as scenario A1; however, it is characterised by economic structures geared towards information and service economy, with a lowering of material intensity and the introduction of efficient resources and clean technologies. B2 This scenario places emphasis on local solutions to social, economic, and environmental sustainability, with progressively increasing global population (although less than A2) as well as boosting the intermediary economic development.