National and global security can be assessed in many ways but one
underlying factor for all humanity is access to reliable sources of
water for drinking, sanitation, food production and manufacturing
industry. In many parts of the world, population growth and an
escalating demand for water already threaten the sustainable management
of available water supplies. Global warming, climate change and rising
sea level are expected to intensify the resource sustainability issue in
many water-stressed regions of the world by reducing the annual supply
of renewable fresh water and promoting the intrusion of saline water
into aquifers along sea coasts, where 50% of the global population
reside. Pro-active resource management decisions are required, but such
efforts would be futile unless reliable predictions can be made about
the impact of the changing global conditions on the water cycle and the
quality and availability of critical water reserves. Addressing this
wide spectrum of issues, a team of expert authors discusses here the
impacts of climate change on the global water resources, the long-term
resource management goals at global and local scales, the data
requirements and the scientific and technical advances necessary to
mitigate the associated impacts.