Dataset Information

Population Growth, Climate Change and Water Scarcity in the Southwestern United States.

ABSTRACT: PROBLEM STATEMENT: In a simple economic model, water scarcity arises as a result of an imbalance between the supply of and demand for water sources. Distribution in this setting is the source of numerous conflicts globally. APPROACH: Already, the Southwestern United States (US) suffers from annual drought and long-standing feud over natural water resources. RESULTS: Population growth in the Southwestern United States along with the continued effects of climate change (natural and anthropogenic) predicts a perpetual decline in natural water sources, such as smaller snowpacks, in the coming years. As the increasing number of communities across multiple US states that subsist off of natural water supplies face water shortages with increasing severity, further water conflict will emerge. Such conflicts become especially protracted when the diversion of water from a source of benefit to one community negatively impacts nearby communities of humans and economically vital ecosystems (e.g., marshlands or tributaries). CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS: The ensuing politics and health effects of these diversions can be complicated and future water policies both domestically and internationally are lacking. To draw attention to and stimulate discussion around the lacking policy discussion domestically, herein we document existing and emerging consequences of watery scarcity in the Southwestern United States and briefly outline past and potential future policy responses.

SUBMITTER: Fuller AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3071514 | biostudies-other | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Population Growth, Climate Change and Water Scarcity in the Southwestern United States.

Fuller Amy C AC Harhay Michael O MO

American journal of environmental sciences 20100601 3

PROBLEM STATEMENT: In a simple economic model, water scarcity arises as a result of an imbalance between the supply of and demand for water sources. Distribution in this setting is the source of numerous conflicts globally. APPROACH: Already, the Southwestern United States (US) suffers from annual drought and long-standing feud over natural water resources. RESULTS: Population growth in the Southwestern United States along with the continued effects of climate change (natural and anthropogenic ...[more]

PMID: 21479150

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Project description:Climate change will cause a range of related risks, including increases in infectious and chronic disease, intensified social and economic stresses, and more frequent extreme weather events. Vulnerable groups will be disproportionately affected due to greater exposure to climate risks and lower ability to prepare, adapt, and recover from their effects. Better understanding of the intersection of vulnerability and climate change risks is required to identify the most important drivers of future climate risks and effectively build resilience and deploy targeted adaptation efforts. Incorporating community stakeholder input, we identified and integrated available public health, social, economic, environmental, and climate data in the United States (U.S.), comprising 184 indicators, to develop a Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) composed of four baseline vulnerabilities (health, social/economic, infrastructure, and environment) and three climate change risks (health, social/economic, extreme events). We find that the vulnerability to and risks from climate change are highly heterogeneous across the U.S. at the census tract scale, and geospatially cluster into complementary areas with similar climate risks but differing baseline vulnerabilities. Our results therefore demonstrate that not only are climate change risks both broadly and variably distributed across the U.S., but also that existing disparities are often further exacerbated by climate change. The CVI thus lays a data-driven, scientific foundation for future research on the intersection of climate change risks with health and other inequalities, while also identifying health impacts of climate change as the greatest research gap. Moreover, given U.S. government initiatives surrounding climate and equity, the CVI can be instrumental in empowering communities and policymakers to better prioritize resources and target interventions, providing a template for addressing local-scale climate and environmental justice globally.

Dataset Information

Population Growth, Climate Change and Water Scarcity in the Southwestern United States.

Publications

Population Growth, Climate Change and Water Scarcity in the Southwestern United States.

Similar Datasets

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