Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
When change is slow enough, societies generally can adapt,
says Richards. The Gobi Desert, for example, is in one of the 30th-
parallel geographic regions mentioned in Chapter 2. Its inhabitants
include wandering nomad tribes that have learned to cope with life
in an arid environment where water is scarce. They move around
with the shifting sands—and water.
Unfortunately, back in the United States—and a good chunk
of the rest of the world—it's not quite as easy to adapt to less
water. Much of the U.S. West is arid or semiarid. Mix that with
the area's booming population growth, and water supply becomes
a serious issue. Factor in past, present, and future drought, and
the situation hits crisis proportions. Nightly television news reports
often offer rainfall totals alongside daily temperature highs and
lows.
“While climate change will have a signifi cant impact on water
resources, society's ability to effectively address water issues
will depend on science—both to understand the problem, and
to develop ways to better manage the Earth's valuable water
resources,” Richards says.
The mega-issue in the United States is that since the Jimmy
Carter and Ronald Reagan presidential years, with a few minor
exceptions, the country hasn't built any (major) water storage sys-
tems, according to A. Dan Tarlock, water issues expert, author, con-
sultant to government agencies, and professor at Chicago-Kent
College of Law in Chicago, Illinois. “We're not building any dams
or reservoirs anymore for environmental or economic reasons.
There has been talk that because of climate change, you have to
build more storage. That would be the mega-development that
could change things,” adds Tarlock.
But, says Richards, “Climate change, when looked at broadly,
may not be quite as daunting when you focus on its positive aspect.
As with most change, there are winners and losers. If we have less
water in one part of the country, precipitation may actually increase
in another part of the country.”
As an example, Richards points to 1993, when the Midwest
experienced a signifi cant fl ood at the same time the Southeast was
suffering a severe drought. The average rainfall across the coun-
try, however, was just about normal. Therefore, Richards says, the
