World Water Development Report 2020 <\/a>produced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). The report explores the linkages between water and climate change and calls for a recalibration in the way we use and reuse the earth\u2019s limited water resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAbout one million\nanimal and plant species are facing extinction with freshwater species having suffered\nthe greatest decline, falling by 84 percent since 1970, according to the UN\nstudy. Further, around four billion people currently experience severe water\nscarcity for at least one month per year, on account of climate crisis which is\nprojected to hit poor countries the hardest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSpecific\nwater management interventions such as wetland protection, conservation\nagriculture and other nature-based solutions can help to sequester carbon in\nbiomass and soils, while improved wastewater treatment can help reduce\ngreenhouse gas emissions while supplying biogas as a source of renewable\nenergy,\u201d Audrey Azoulay, director general of Unesco says in the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cClimate change\naffects ecosystems, human societies and economies in a variety of ways, and\nwater is the primary medium through which these impacts are felt. In some\ncases, these impacts are clearly obvious \u2013 for example through the increasing\nfrequency and intensity of storms, floods and droughts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global water use\nhas increased by a factor of six over the past 100 years and continues to grow\nsteadily at a rate of about one percent per year. This is as a result of\nincreasing population, economic development and shifting consumption patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Climate change,\nblamed on higher emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, is\nmanifesting itself in extreme events such as heatwaves, unprecedented\nrainfalls, thunderstorms and storm surge events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWater quality\nwill be adversely affected as a result of higher water temperatures, reduced\ndissolved oxygen and thus a reduced self-purifying capacity of freshwater\nbodies. There are further risks of water pollution and pathogenic contamination\ncaused by flooding or by higher pollutant concentrations during drought,\u201d says\nthe study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Paris-based Unesco\nproposes a range of strategies for climate change adaptation and disaster risk\nreduction strategies, including hard (structural) and soft (policy instruments)\napproaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hard measures\ninclude enhanced water storage, climate-proof infrastructure, and crop resilience\nimprovements through introduction of flood- and drought-resistant crop\nvarieties. On the other hand, soft measures include flood and drought\ninsurance, forecasting and early warning systems, land use planning, and\ncapacity building (education and awareness).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHard and soft\nmeasures often go together. Urban planning, for example, can help increase\nresilience to flood risks by featuring drainage systems that provide spaces to\nsafely collect and store floodwater. The city thus acts as a \u2018sponge\u2019, limiting\nsurges and releasing rainwater as a resource,\u201d Unesco says in the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cModern\ncommunication methods such as social media and mobile phone services provide\nsignificant opportunities to help improve communication and early warning\neffectiveness. Drought and flood monitoring systems are also an important\ncomponent of risk reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Across the world,\nfreshwater resources are increasingly polluted with organic waste, pathogens,\nfertilizers and pesticides, heavy metals, and emerging pollutants. Water\npollution by organic matter is growing because of increasing municipal and\nindustrial wastewater discharge, the intensification of agriculture (including\nlivestock farming) and reduction in river dilution capacity due to decreasing\nrunoff and water extractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDams, often built for hydropower as a mitigation measure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by substituting fossil-fuel powered energy production, can also contribute to flow regulation, flood control and availability of water for irrigation. However, reservoirs can \u2018consume\u2019 much water through evapotranspiration and under certain circumstances be net emitters of GHGs. Moreover, poorly designed and\/or managed hydropower plants may cause negative ecological impacts on existing river ecosystems and fisheries, and social disruption and human rights violations, among others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read also:<\/strong> Kenya: Why Masinga Hydropower Dam Should Be Desilted<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Water is one of the four elements of nature crucial for food security, energy production, economic development and poverty reduction. But water can equally be deployed as ammunition in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[358,1475,1524,1527,1567],"class_list":["post-8887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-responsibility","tag-climate-change","tag-unesco","tag-water","tag-water-scarcity","tag-world-water-development-report"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}