Reference no: EM131516032

Water Resources

The dataset we will use for this lab is provided by Google, and it contains climate- and human- change driven impacts on water availability for the Earth. Click on the Climate and Human Driven Water Impacts link in the KMZ file in Google Earth and read about the layers included in the dataset. The scenario referenced in the text (A2 scenario) is a future scenario of potential future climate conditions and impacts on the Earth due to continued greenhouse gas emissions based on a set of assumptions, developed by an IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) research team.

For the A2 scenario, the team that developed the scenario made the following assumptions in their future projection of climate change impacts.

The following are the assumptions taken by the research team:

- Relatively slow change in demographic patterns (demographic transition) and relatively slow changes in regional fertility patterns.
- Relatively slow equalizing of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita between regions.
- Relatively slow energy efficiency improvements from both suppliers and consumers.
- Slow or delayed development of renewable energy solutions.
- No limitations on the use of nuclear energy.

This scenario takes a "near-status quo" view of a potential future, where social and economic conditions around the world change little from what they are today as human society moves forward in time.

Once you have finished reading about the six impact sections from the link, click on the button next to Severe Water Stress, 2050s. The cities layer folder should be on by default, but if it is not turned on, do so now. The Cities layer shows placemarks for the ten largest cities in the world as estimated for 2014. Visit each city in Google Earth (double-click on the city name in the list) and observe where the sever water stress areas (the red) appear.

1. Which of the ten cities is not within a severe water stress zone?

2. Which of the ten cities is not within a zone indicating increased water stress due to increasing water withdrawals?

3. Which cities will experience a decrease in water stress due to increased water availability? Which cities will experience a decrease in water stress due to decreased water used (withdrawal)?

4. What is the percent change (which zone) of average annual water availability for EACH of the ten cities?

5. What is the percent change (which zone) of annual water withdrawal for EACH of the ten cities?

6. Which of the ten cities are expected to experience moderate (mid in the legend) drought?

Attachment:- Lab- Water Resources.rar