Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies

For the first time in the latest Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), water has been the focus of dedicated chapters in both Working Group 1 (Chapter 8) and 2 (Chapter 4). Nevertheless, we argue here that water has not yet received the full attention it deserves...

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Autores principales: Douville, H., Allan, R. P., Arias, P. A., Betts, R.A., Caretta, M. A., Cherchi, A., Mukherji, Aditi, Raghavan, K., Renwick, J.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126414
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author Douville, H.
Allan, R. P.
Arias, P. A.
Betts, R.A.
Caretta, M. A.
Cherchi, A.
Mukherji, Aditi
Raghavan, K.
Renwick, J.
author_browse Allan, R. P.
Arias, P. A.
Betts, R.A.
Caretta, M. A.
Cherchi, A.
Douville, H.
Mukherji, Aditi
Raghavan, K.
Renwick, J.
author_facet Douville, H.
Allan, R. P.
Arias, P. A.
Betts, R.A.
Caretta, M. A.
Cherchi, A.
Mukherji, Aditi
Raghavan, K.
Renwick, J.
author_sort Douville, H.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description For the first time in the latest Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), water has been the focus of dedicated chapters in both Working Group 1 (Chapter 8) and 2 (Chapter 4). Nevertheless, we argue here that water has not yet received the full attention it deserves from both scientists and policymakers for several reasons. Firstly, the historical focus on temperature change has been further increased with the use of global warming levels motivated by an aim to be consistent with current policy framings. Secondly, an increasing attention paid to extreme weather has sometimes overshadowed longer time-scale changes such as the aridification of an increasing fraction of arable land and the increasing variability of the water cycle from month to month, season to season, and year to year that also yield cascading impacts on all water use sectors. Thirdly, a stronger focus is needed on understanding the effectiveness of current and future adaptation strategies in reducing water-related climate risks. Finally, the role of water has not been adequately recognized in the assessment of mitigation strategies although the compliance with the Paris Agreement and the current pledges all require a massive deployment of land based strategies whose feasibility and efficiency heavily depend on water resources. It is thus essential to develop a more integrated approach to water and climate change, that would allow scientists and policymakers to “close the loop” between mitigation options, water cycle changes, hydrological impacts and adaptation.
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spelling CGSpace1264142025-10-26T12:52:38Z Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies Douville, H. Allan, R. P. Arias, P. A. Betts, R.A. Caretta, M. A. Cherchi, A. Mukherji, Aditi Raghavan, K. Renwick, J. climate change adaptation climate change mitigation policies hydrological cycle drought water footprint models forecasting greenhouse gases temperature global warming For the first time in the latest Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), water has been the focus of dedicated chapters in both Working Group 1 (Chapter 8) and 2 (Chapter 4). Nevertheless, we argue here that water has not yet received the full attention it deserves from both scientists and policymakers for several reasons. Firstly, the historical focus on temperature change has been further increased with the use of global warming levels motivated by an aim to be consistent with current policy framings. Secondly, an increasing attention paid to extreme weather has sometimes overshadowed longer time-scale changes such as the aridification of an increasing fraction of arable land and the increasing variability of the water cycle from month to month, season to season, and year to year that also yield cascading impacts on all water use sectors. Thirdly, a stronger focus is needed on understanding the effectiveness of current and future adaptation strategies in reducing water-related climate risks. Finally, the role of water has not been adequately recognized in the assessment of mitigation strategies although the compliance with the Paris Agreement and the current pledges all require a massive deployment of land based strategies whose feasibility and efficiency heavily depend on water resources. It is thus essential to develop a more integrated approach to water and climate change, that would allow scientists and policymakers to “close the loop” between mitigation options, water cycle changes, hydrological impacts and adaptation. 2022-12-15 2022-12-31T23:58:07Z 2022-12-31T23:58:07Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126414 en Open Access Douville, H.; Allan, R. P.; Arias, P. A.; Betts, R. A.; Caretta, M. A.; Cherchi, A.; Mukherji, Aditi; Raghavan, K.; Renwick, J. 2022. Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies. PLOS Water, 1(12):e0000058. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000058]
spellingShingle climate change adaptation
climate change mitigation
policies
hydrological cycle
drought
water footprint
models
forecasting
greenhouse gases
temperature
global warming
Douville, H.
Allan, R. P.
Arias, P. A.
Betts, R.A.
Caretta, M. A.
Cherchi, A.
Mukherji, Aditi
Raghavan, K.
Renwick, J.
Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies
title Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies
title_full Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies
title_fullStr Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies
title_full_unstemmed Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies
title_short Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies
title_sort water remains a blind spot in climate change policies
topic climate change adaptation
climate change mitigation
policies
hydrological cycle
drought
water footprint
models
forecasting
greenhouse gases
temperature
global warming
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126414
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