Environment |
Battling against climate change
Climate change is happening now. As more countries experience flooding and drought events at the same time, they are attempting to make plans and prepare for increasingly extreme events in the not-too-distant future
EXTREME DROUGHTS THAT USED to occur once every ten or so years are now happening 70% more often, according to the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Indeed, as the Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought says, drought may be attracting increasing attention but its “management has not evolved in scope and activity commensurate to other disasters.”. In its recent report called The Blue Paper: Drought Risks, Resilience and Restoration, the working group states that: ● Drought is underestimated and has deep, widespread impacts on societies, ecosystems, and economics, with only a portion of actual losses accounted for.
● There is evidence that human-induced climate change has led to an increased risk of drought.
● An estimated 55million people globally are directly affected by drought every year, making it the most serious hazard to livestock and crops in nearly every part of the world.
● From 1970-2019 drought was one of the hazards that led to the largest human losses of approximately 650,000 deaths.
Below: Llwyn-On Reservoir in South Wales during drought. Large parts of the UK could be at risk of continuing drought into the summer of 2023
● By 2040 it is estimated that one in four children will be living in areas with extreme water shortages.
● Limiting global warming to 1.5 degree celsius is expected to substantially reduce the probability of extreme drought.
Contrary to popular belief, as Victoria Cardenas from the International Hydropower Association said: “Climate volatility will mean the need for more hydropower, not less”. Cardenas gives the example of Sichuan in southwest China, where hydropower provides 77% of power generation. After experiencing high temperatures and droughts in July and August 2022, Sichuan experienced its first power shortage in more than three decades. He Shengming from Yalong Hydro says that the
region needs to optimise its power structure and will address the problem by “vigorously developing” new energy, hydropower and pumped storage hydro. Last year the company began construction of a 258MW wind farm, a 1GW solar plant that will be the world’s largest hydro-solar hybrid station, plus the 1.2GW Lianghekou pumped storage plant. In the long run, Shengming says that hydro, pumped storage, wind and solar power all need to work together.
Arizona initiative In the US, Arizona State University (ASU) has announced
that it will lead a multi-year Arizona Water Innovation Initiative to provide immediate, actionable, and evidence-based solutions to ensure that Arizona will continue to thrive with a secure future water supply. The university will work with industrial, municipal, agricultural, tribal, and international partners to rapidly accelerate and deploy new approaches and technology for water conversation, augmentation, desalination, efficiency, infrastructure, and reuse. The state of Arizona will make a US$40 million-dollar investment in ASU for the initiative, which will build upon the university’s successful programmes in water science, technology, management, and law. The initiative will also focus on an advanced
water observatory and real time decision support to revolutionise water measurement, modelling and prediction and provide data necessary to identify critical risks, vulnerabilities and capabilities. The observatory will deploy state-of-the-art
technology to fully map, monitor and model all of Arizona’s water supplies. This will enable ASU to partner with federal and state agencies, local water management agencies, research institutions, and the private sector to enhance water security and reduce risks of future water shortages. “This is an economic and social opportunity for
Arizona to emerge as a national and global leader in water innovation, creating entirely new industries and technologies,” ASU President Michael Crow said. “The
34 | February 2023 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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