Water, Food and Fire

Abstract

Throughout the 20th century, higher atmospheric temperatures increased the intensity of the global water cycle, altering the processes of water evaporation, cloud formation, rainfall, river flow and groundwater storage, thereby changing ‘its impacts upon regions and continents’ (Huntington, 2006, p. 90). Further changes will continue into the future as atmospheric temperatures continue to rise. These changes in the global water cycle are altering the distribution of water resources which will, over time, also alter the suitability of many parts of the world for human habitation (Postel, 2000, p. 941). As is often observed, climate change has begun to make parts of the world wetter, more prone to flooding, with shorter periods of intense rainfall, while others are becoming more prone to severe and protracted periods of drought. Many scientists argue that even if urgent action is taken to reduce green-house gas emissions in order to slow the rate of increasing atmospheric and ocean temperatures, water redistributions will create major challenges for current patterns of human settlement, food production and industrial capacities (United Nations Development Programme, 2008; Parry et al., 2007; Pearce, 2007). If the build-up of atmospheric green-house gases is not reduced, and atmospheric temperatures increase more quickly, scientists predict that some ‘areas of the globe… [will] become uninhabitable’ (Diffenbaugh and Scherer, 2011, p. 616; see also Sherwood and Huber, 2010).