How does global warming affect water availability during dry seasons and its implications for rural communities in rain-fed locations?

Hello Abdimajid Ali

The topic is contemporary and significant as the impacts of global warming are witnessed every day in vast areas around the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions.

Actually, the availability of water during dry seasons, particularly in rain-fed areas, can be seriously impacted by global warming. i.e., changing precipitation patterns and timings, rising temperatures, and increased evaporation rates, resulting in lower water levels in rivers, lakes, and groundwater sources, which can result in crop failures, food shortages, and heightened competition for limited water resources, ultimately impacting the health and well-being of these communities, e.g., availability of drinking water.

To address the effects of global warming on water availability, sustainable water management practices must be implemented, and infrastructure investments must be made to capture and store water during the wet season for use during the dry season. These measures can include constructing dams, reservoirs, and other water storage facilities, e.g., water harvesting, as well as promoting efficient irrigation techniques and water conservation measures.

Ali YOUNES,

Benson Turyasingura

Global warming can have significant impacts on water availability during dry seasons, particularly in rain-fed locations. Here are some ways in which global warming affects water availability and the implications for rural communities:

Reduced rainfall: Global warming can alter precipitation patterns, leading to decreased rainfall in certain regions. This reduction in rainfall can result in water scarcity during dry seasons when water is already limited. Rural communities that rely on rain-fed agriculture and local water sources may face challenges in accessing sufficient water for irrigation, livestock, and domestic needs.

Increased evaporation: Higher temperatures associated with global warming accelerate the rate of evaporation from surface water bodies, soil, and vegetation. This increased evaporation can deplete water resources more quickly during dry seasons, exacerbating water scarcity for rural communities.

Drying of water sources: With reduced rainfall and increased evaporation, lakes, rivers, and other surface water sources may experience decreased water levels or even complete drying in extreme cases. This directly affects the availability of water for drinking, irrigation, and other essential purposes in rural areas.

Groundwater depletion: In rain-fed regions, groundwater is often relied upon as a source of water during dry periods. However, prolonged droughts associated with global warming can lead to increased groundwater extraction, depleting aquifers beyond their natural recharge rates. This overexploitation of groundwater can lead to long-term water scarcity and the need for deeper and costlier wells, affecting rural communities' access to water.

Impacts on agriculture: Water scarcity during dry seasons can have severe implications for rain-fed agriculture, which is the primary livelihood for many rural communities. Insufficient water for irrigation can lead to crop failures, reduced yields, and economic losses. This can result in food insecurity, poverty, and increased vulnerability for rural populations.

Health and sanitation risks: Limited water availability in rural communities during dry seasons can pose health risks. It can hinder proper hygiene practices, leading to increased waterborne diseases. Additionally, inadequate water for livestock and domestic use can impact the well-being of communities and their ability to maintain proper sanitation standards.

Migration and conflicts: Water scarcity due to global warming can exacerbate existing social and economic challenges in rural communities. In some cases, it can lead to forced migration as people search for more water-secure areas. Water scarcity can also contribute to conflicts over limited water resources, leading to tensions and instability within and between communities.

Jamel Chahed

Progress in understanding Climate Change and its effects needs advances in modeling Climate Phenomena. "IPCC Models" "Climate Models" "General Circulation Models", appellations are of no importance. It is in all cases Physics-Driven Models developed within multi-disciplinary scientific teams worldwide to describe the evolution of weather phenomena (at short time scales) and climate phenomena that involve long time-scale processes, more complex to analyze, as part of these phenomena are not yet well understood.

This is why, despite the enormous progress already achieved, the predictability of Climate Models (The Earth System Models, ESMs), are not yet sufficiently accurate. The standard deviations between the different models remain of the same order of magnitude as the mean values and huge biases on regional levels are noticed and well documented in technical and scientific references of each of the models.

This should lead us to admit that more research is needed to improve our knowledge of the driving forces that control the climate in order to build more accurate predictive climate models, as scientists do well for weather prediction

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Climate_Change_and_Climate_Models_Progress_and_Limits

Jamel Chahed

Attached is a BOOK REVIEW by Ghislain de Marsily (Académie des Sciences, Paris) devoted to the fundamental Water-Food Nexus in the Arid Region taking Tunisia as an example. "National water security– Case study of an arid country, Tunisia (Authors: Besbes, Chahed Hamdane), Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration (2019) 4:11". The Previous French version of the book is available in chapters on:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356650449_Securite_Hydrique_de_la_Tunisie_Preface_Introduction https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356662490_Les_Problemes_de_l'Eau_dans_le_Monde

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356663902_Cinquante_ans_de_politiques_de_l'eau_1960-2010

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356665641_Le_Bilan_Hydrique_National

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356666107_Le_bilan_Hydrique_Integral_Eau_Bleue_Eau_Verte_et_Eau_Virtuelle

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356666288_La_gestion_de_la_demande_en_eau_et_les_ressources_non_conventionnelles

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356674959_Securite_Hydrique_de_la_Tunisie_les_questions_en_debat

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356678805_Securite_Hydrique_de_la_Tunisie_Conclusion_Postface

Abstract:

This is a short review of a book recently published by Springer entitled: National water security–Case study of an arid country, Tunisia; by Mustapha Besbes, Jamel Chahed, and Abdelkader Hamdane. It shows that around 40% of the water consumed in Tunisia is imported as virtual water, used in other countries to produce goods. Water security is thus strongly linked to food security, but includes protection of the resource from pollution, accidents, malicious acts, and anticipation of extreme hydrologic events. A detailed analysis is made of water consumed by agriculture for food production by both rain-fed and irrigated crops, from which a surprising conclusion can be drawn: the major part of Tunisian food production is provided by rain-fed agriculture. Therefore, optimizing the yield of rain-fed agriculture becomes a priority. Alternative water resources are also discussed, as well as water governance. Results can be integrated into the policy choices related to sustainable water management which should be made in the future in Tunisia, and other regions where water is scarce.

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