Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies.

Caretta, Martina Angela LU orcid ; Hervé, Douville ; Allan, Richard P. ; Arias, Paola A. ; Betts, Richard A. ; Cherchi, Annalisa ; Mukherji, Aditi ; Raghavan, Krishnan and Renwick, James (2022) In PLOS Water 1(12).
Abstract
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... (More)
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. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLOS Water
volume
1
issue
12
article number
e0000058
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
ISSN
2767-3219
DOI
10.1371/journal.pwat.0000058
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
87341e52-3ff2-4d26-876f-489107ce3a7d
date added to LUP
2023-04-20 12:55:44
date last changed
2023-04-24 17:06:26
@article{87341e52-3ff2-4d26-876f-489107ce3a7d,
  abstract     = {{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.}},
  author       = {{Caretta, Martina Angela and Hervé, Douville and Allan, Richard P. and Arias, Paola A. and Betts, Richard A. and Cherchi, Annalisa and Mukherji, Aditi and Raghavan, Krishnan and Renwick, James}},
  issn         = {{2767-3219}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLOS Water}},
  title        = {{Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000058}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pwat.0000058}},
  volume       = {{1}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}