HR: 09:35h
AN: H11H-07 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: U.S. Contributions to Understanding Major Transformations of the Global Water System and World Water Resource Base
AU: * Vorosmarty, C J
EM: charles.vorosmarty@unh.edu
AF: University of New Hampshire, Water Systems Analysis Group, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, Durham, NH 03824, United States
AU: Dumenil-Gates, L
EM: lydia.dumenilgates@uni-bonn.de
AF: Global Water System Project, International Project Office, Bonn, 53113, Germany
AU: Lettenmaier, D
EM: dennisl@u.washington.edu
AF: University of Washington, Surface Water Hydrology Research Group, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
AU: Naiman, R
EM: naiman@u.washington.edu
AF: University of Washington, Fishery Sciences Building, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
AB: The water cycle figures prominently in the study of global change and creates an important integrating theme for current and future studies of the Earth system. In addition to greenhouse warming and concerns about an accelerated hydrologic cycle, several other anthropogenic factors interact with the water cycle directly and modify the physics, chemistry, biology, and social systems associated with fresh water. Prominent among these factors are widespread land cover change, urbanization, industrial activities, plus a host of hydraulic engineering schemes that optimize water resource access and use, including dam and reservoir construction, irrigated agriculture, and interbasin transfers. These factors yield a broad spectrum of impacts, distorting natural river flow and thermal regimes, polluting fresh water, destroying aquatic habitat, and creating substantial challenges to the sustainability of world water resources and the inland aquatic ecosystems, which are important to human well- being. A rich history of research at the local scale already demonstrates the clear impact of multiple natural and anthropogenic factors in shaping the hydrologic environment. Evidence now shows that humans are rapidly embedding themselves into the basic character of the water cycle over much broader domains. The collective significance of such transformation of a basic element of the Earth system, however, remains an open question. This presentation provides a broad overview of the nature of these new challenges, both from a scientific and technological point of view. It also provides a brief summary of the major themes that support the science agenda of the Global Water System Project, as part of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP), and links to the United Nations interest in water resource assessment, management, and training.
DE: 1630 Impacts of global change (1225)
DE: 1655 Water cycles (1836)
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects (4802, 4902)
DE: 1834 Human impacts
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting