GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, ITS PROJECTED IMPACTS ON WATER RESOURCES

As populations increase throughout the world, water consumptive use is increasing, resulting in dramatic implications for many countries of the world. The expansion into, and creation of, desert-like conditions in areas where such conditions have not naturally occurred, is approaching critical conditions as a result of overgrazing, overcultivation, deforestation, and extensive and unsustainable irrigation practices. However, these conditions are being exacerbated by global climate change wherein changes in temperature and precipitation, both annual average and intensities, are occurring. The result is that conditions related to water resources arising from global climate change are projected as enormous. The paper reviews the situation, providing examples in China, Iran, and Canada including reflections on the basis of available water per capita and the lack of sustainability of the current situation and indications of trends from historical data. Some of the pressures for water transfer and some indications of the potential impact of global climate change are considered, all of which point to growing crises which are imminent in many countries of the world.