Water is the primary medium through which we feel the effects of climate change (UN-Water).
Droughts, increasing temperatures and declining water quality are all consequences of climate change. Water temperature, for example, will generally rise in streams, lakes, and reservoirs as air temperature rises. Pollution in streams and rivers are carried to larger bodies of water downstream – lakes, estuaries, and the coastal ocean – where one of the more dramatic consequences of heavy runoff can be harmful algae and bacteria.
Challenges
Changes in water availability will impact health and food security which have already proven to political instability and refugee problems.
Water plays a crucial role in how our world will adapt to climate change.
Scientists, farmers and the business community consider variability, casted as ‘extreme weather events’, as one of the most likely production risks over the next ten years (WEF, 2015).
Opportunities
Can we decelerate climate change?
NO. Although there has been speculation about climate change slowing down, but the temperature are still rising. According to Cornell University, Cornell Climate Change, Over "70% of the surface of the globe is ocean, and so sea surface temperatures (SST) are hugely important in calculating the average surface temperature of the globe. But there are not the kind of fixed weather stations that we have on land to calculate the average. Instead, measurements have been taken by ships as they traveled the seven seas, and, more recently, by both ships and buoy networks."
What Can We do?
There is no water reprieve at the moment and addressing climate is change is urgent.
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