LAB #2: Climate Change Impacts on Urban Water Resources (10 points) In this exercise, you will build upon your research in Lab #1 to look at the future of water resources in your chosen city, emphasizing the effects of climate change. Climate change will potentially have a wide range of impacts on urban water resources across the globe. Seasonal changes in temperature and precipitation may impact the quantity and quality of water sources, the future of industry and agriculture in the region, or population trends. Feel free to explore indirect impacts of climate change beyond a simple analysis of water quantity. Government (city, region, nation) websites will be a good source for information for this assignment, as they will provide local information on the climate future for your city. For one global projection of climate change, which is a good place to begin your research, see the IPCC website available at https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment- report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-chapter10.pdf You can either look at Chapter 3: https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment- report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-chapter11.pdf or by each continent. A global map is available at the following websites: http://water.worldbank.org/topics/water-resources-management/water-and-climate-change http://www.mairs-essp.org/UserFiles/File/Arnell%20global%20water%20resources.pdf http://www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/3/1321/2012/esdd-3-1321-2012.html Turn in a 500-750 word document (excluding references) that includes AT LEAST 2 maps or figures representing the water resource future of your city based on climate change estimates. Depending on your city, you may not be able to find data or information for such a small area— in that case, region-wide maps and figures are acceptable. Assignments will all review climate projections for the chosen city/region, includingseasonal estimates of temperature and precipitation (2 points). In addition, assignments should address each of the topics below: • How that projection relates to how water is currently sourced for your city? (2 points) • How that projection relates to the current picture of water users (industries and agriculture, as well as rising population)—is current water use sustainable considering climate change? (2 points) • Potential impacts to current infrastructure delivering freshwater and exporting wastewater. (2 points) In your next assignment, you will be investigating climate change adaptation strategies undertaken by your city, so keep your research focus on climate change impacts for this lab, knowing that you will be writing about human responses to climate change in your next lab. GEOG 340U: Global Water Issues and Sustainability Resources for your research While Google can be a great place to start your research, the Web of Science is a much better place to find peer-reviewed articles. For city- specific data and information, be sure to look at local government websites. Here is a list of some useful websites for background information: Some specific case studies in the world: http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v3/n4/full/nclimate1746.html
