Water is indispensable for nearly all human activities, including drinking, bathing, and growing food. The UN Millennium Development Goals include the extension of access to safe drinking water and sanitation/hygiene, the latter of which entails the need for adequate quantities of clean water. Climate change affects freshwater quantity and quality with respect to both mean states (water availability) and variability (floods and droughts). Significant changes in either water use or the hydrological cycle (affecting water supply and floods) require adaptation, especially in those communities most vulnerable and directly dependent upon local water resources. When one source of drinking water dries up or becomes contaminated by flooding, another less desirable source of water must be utilized.
Climate change research at the WaTER Center includes robust numerical modeling that utilizes remote sensing (radar and satellite imaging), climate system models, water balance models, and historical weather data to predict droughts, flooding and regional water availability.
Learn more on the WaTER Center's climate change research (PDF).
