Human activities are clearly influencing the climate system and causing changes that are affecting water resources in several ways. According to the IPCC, over half of the increase in surface temperatures since the 1950s is due to human greenhouse gas emissions. As the climate continues to warm, precipitation patterns are projected to change in ways that will impact water availability and quality. Infrastructure like dams and reservoirs has altered water flows, and building more could help address issues like declining storage capacity but also risks impacts on environmental flows. Managing these tradeoffs between human and environmental water needs is an ongoing challenge.

1. CLIMATE
CHANGE &
ANTROPOGENIC
IMPACT ON
WATER
RESOURCES
Vempi Satriya
Tuesday, 5 December 2017

2. OUTLINE I
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
1. Key Message from IPCC
2. The evidence: Historical change
3. Human influence on the climate system
4. Projected climate change
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON WATER RESOURCES
(Altering Water availability and quality; Changes in
marine species abundance and distribution;
Biological habitat changes; Increased tropical storms;
etc)
ANTROPOGENIC-INDUCED WATER
RESOURCES CHANGES
1. Human-made river structure
2. Environmental Flow Requirement
3. “A Trade off”
1
2
3
The objective: Sharing insights and some issues
regarding climate change and water resources
5’
4’
6’

3. Global Climate Change
A message from scientist and clear evidences
1.

4. Key Messages from IPCC
Human influence on the climate system is clear.
The more we disrupt our climate, the more we risk severe, pervasive and
irreversible impacts.
We have the means to limit climate change and build a more prosperous,
sustainable future. “
- Presentation of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. Nairobi, Kenya 23, February 2015.
“
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a scientific intergovernmental body set up by the
World Meteorological Organization and by the United Nations Environment Programme.
https://www.ipcc.ch

5. THE EVIDENCES: Historical Changes
The research and evidences
revealed supported by Technology
Each of the last three decades has been
successively warmer at the Earth’s surface than
any preceding decade since 1850. In the
Northern Hemisphere, 1983–2012 was likely the
warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years.
(IPCC, 2013)
An evidence from Surface temperature, Sea Ice,
and Sea Level

6. Human influence on the climate system is clear. This is evident from the increasing greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere, positive radiative forcing, observed warming, and understanding of the
climate system (IPCC, 2013).
Human influence on the climate system
Human influence has been detected in warming of the atmosphere and the ocean, in changes in
the global water cycle, in reductions in snow and ice, in global mean sea level rise, and in changes in
some climate extremes.
It is extremely likely that more than half of the observed increase in global average surface
temperature from 1951 to 2010 was caused by the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse gas
concentrations and other anthropogenic forcings together. The best estimate of the human-
induced contribution to warming is similar to the observed warming over this period.

7. What About The Future?
Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further
warming and changes in all components of the climate
system (IPCC, 2013)

8. Changes in the global water cycle in response to the warming over the 21st century will not
be uniform. The contrast in precipitation between wet and dry regions and between wet
and dry seasons will increase, although there may be regional exceptions (IPCC, 2013).
CHANGE IN AVERAGE PRECIPITATION
IPCC. 2013. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Poster Presentation.
Climate change will affect carbon
cycle processes in a way that will
exacerbate the increase of CO2 in
the atmosphere (high confidence).
Further uptake of carbon by the
ocean will increase ocean
acidification.

9. Climate Change on Water
Resources
A changes impacting everything
2.

10. CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON WATER RESOURCES
Changes in marine species abundance and
distribution.
Water availability
• Reduced ground water and
surface water supply in
some areas
• Increased water demand
due to higher temperatures
Water quality
• Increased runoff resulting in
erosion and sedimentation
• Overwhelmed water
infrastructure due to
flooding
PRECIPITATION CHANGESAIR AND WATER TEMPERATURE INCREASES
INCREASES IN STORM INTENSITY
Lands vulnerable to sea level rise. The effects of sea level
rise on water resources include:
• Displacement of coastal wetlands and habitat
• Increased coastal erosion
• Inundation of wastewater treatment infrastructure
• Salt water intrusion threat to drinking water supplies
Biological habitat changes (other than sea level rise) are
expected in the oceans as the air temperatures increase.
SEA LEVEL RISE
& OCEAN COASTAL
CHANGES
The effects of
increased
tropical storms
include
contaminated
waters, damaged
wetlands,
flooded
wastewater,
treatment
plants, and
damage from
high wind.

11. The Other Aspects?
Agriculture depends on the length of growing
seasons and precipitation, both of which EPA
expects climate change will affect.
Forests also depend on precipitation, and
increased temperatures might extend the forest
fire season in parts of the United States.
Increased temperatures and precipitation might
cause increases in some insect populations and
increase the spread of some diseases such as
Lyme disease.
Throughout the world, the prevalence of some
diseases and other threats to human health
depend largely on local climate.
Other nonwater-related effects of climate
change include effects on ecosystems, habitat
and biodiversity, native people’s ways of life and
cultural values.
EPA. The Effect of Climate Change on Water Resources and Programs.
Available at http://www.epa.gov/watertrain

12. Climate Change Impact on
Water Resources: A Summary
The changes
affects many
natural
processes
that in turn
affect the
quality and
quantity of
our water
resources.
EPA. The Effect of Climate Change on
Water Resources and Programs.
Available at
http://www.epa.gov/watertrain

13. Anthropogenic-induced
Water Resources Changes
A trade off
3.

14. The total water availability in Indonesia is 690 × 109 cubic meters (m3) per year, which is a lot more than the demand
of 175 × 109 m3/year. Kalimantan and Papua, which house only 13% of the total population in Indonesia, has about
70% of the water resources (Figure 3.1). Furthermore, Kalimantan and Papua are not main centers of economic
activities as Java is.
Water Resources in Indonesia

15. Water storage per capita declined over the years (until 2014); this is because storage capacity did not
keep pace with population increase. To overcome this problem, the government plans to build 65 new
reservoirs with a capacity of 8.2 billion m3 by 2019; water availability per capita is expected to rise from
49.2 m3 in 2014 to 76.4 m3 in 2019.
Building 65 new reservoirs just in 5 years!
At present, Indonesia has a total reservoir capacity of about 12.56 billion m3 or a ratio of storage per
capita of about 52.55 m3 per capita. This number is very small compared with storage per capita in
other countries in Asia. This shows that the Indonesian water resources system is very sensitive and it is
getting worse with environment degradation and climate change issues.
Storage Issue in Indonesia

16. Storage infrastructure can significantly alter water flow and distribution. Man-made surface reservoirs
control22 about 20% of the global annual river discharge and provide resilience against droughts, in
addition to their role in water resource management and energy production
POTENTIAL OF RIVER REGIME ALTERATION
Mehran, A. 2017. Compounding Impacts of Human- Induced Water Stress and ClimateChange on Water Availability. Nature Science Report

17. An environmental flow requirement (EFR) is an amount of water that should remain in a stream or river
for the benefit of the environment of the river, bay, and estuary, while balancing human needs. (For the
legislative definition of an environmental flow regime, see (Texas Water Code, Section 11.002.16.)
REQUIRING AN “ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS”

18. A competition? Where do we stand?
Results indicate that 41% of current
global irrigation water use (997 km3 per
year) occurs at the expense of EFRs.
If these volumes were to be reallocated
to the ecosystems, half of globally
irrigated cropland would face
production losses of ≥10%, with losses
of ~20–30% of total country production
especially in Central and South Asia
(Jones, 2017)
http://www.destination360.com/south-america/brazil/images/st/brazil-amazon.jpg
https://impresa.prensa.com/economia/impuesto-importacion-aceite-soja-llevado
LPRIMA20171119_0090_34.jpg

19. Thank you for your attention 

20. Yann Arthus-Bertrand (born 13 March 1946 in Paris) is a
French photographer, journalist, reporter and
environmentalist. He is especially well known for his book
Earth from Above (1999) and his film Home (2009).
REFERENCES
Some photographs showed here were
from Yann Arthus Bertrand Collection
http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org