Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1400
17.0
15.0
13.0
WMED
1200
1000
800
600
11.0
9.0
400
200
0
7.0
5.0
1400
26.0
24.0
22.0
EMED
1200
1000
800
600
20.0
18.0
400
200
0
16.0
14.0
Figure 5.9
Changes in temperature (dashed lines), 5-year running mean of temperature (bold
lines) and precipitation (grey bars) in the western Mediterranean (WMED) and eastern Mediter-
ranean (EMED) basin between 1960 and 2000. Reproduced from Ludwig
et al.
(2009), with
permission
in the Mediterranean area. Thus the seasonality of snowmelt- and ice-melt-driven
discharge is an important aspect that has to be investigated in the future.
5.4
Adaptation strategies
To date there are no unifying studies on climate change adaptation with regard to
water resources in the mountains of the Mediterranean Basin, even though the latter
are regarded as the world's largest biodiversity hotspot (Conservation International,
2007), with intense climatic, environmental and human pressures on resources. In
the Mediterranean, snow-related water resources and adaptation strategies could be
particularly useful for issues related to the export and import of virtual water and its
associated economic benefits and limits. Any changes in the dynamics of the virtual
water market in the Mediterranean will have major effects on the European econ-
omy since the Mediterranean is considered as 'Europe's fruit orchard'. Adopting
adaptation strategies for external climate and global forcing on mountain systems
at an early enough stage, can ensure that Mediterranean agriculture is optimized
and risks minimized. Compared to other regions worldwide with north-south rela-
tions, such as North and South America or Japan and southeast Asia, Europe has an
