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Global Warming Impacts on Water Resources

Global warming, also referred to as climate change, is the theory that the average temperature of the world's atmosphere is gradually increasing due to gas emissions, such as the burning of fossil fuels that release excessive carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Although there are controversial views toward global warming concerning its connection with human activity, the impact of climate change on water resources is very real. These are freshwater sources such as lakes, rivers, groundwater and glaciers which can potentially be useful to humans.

Snowpack
- Snowpack is the primary source of water for many parts of the western United States and the rest of the world. Due to global warming, rising temperatures may cause the cycle of snowpack accumulation and melting to be disrupted and lead to floods and droughts. Temperatures would increase too rapidly in the spring season causing deluge; consequently, a depleted snowpack in the warmer, dryer summer months would create droughtlike conditions. Some predictions even conclude that snowpack in some places could disappear altogether within the next 100 years.
Sea Level
- Due to the gradual melting of glaciers and the polar ice caps, sea levels have risen within the last century and are expected to continue to rise another 2 feet by the end of this century. The rising sea levels contribute to land loss and flooding along coastal areas. Perhaps the greatest concern is increased salinity of rivers, bays and groundwater supply. This is due to the influx and infiltration of seawater along coastal freshwater sources, creating salt contamination.
Water Cycle Disruption
- A warm atmosphere is able to hold much more water vapor than a cold atmosphere. It is predicted that every degree increase in temperature results in a 7 percent intensification in the water cycle. This intensification leads to increased evaporation, transpiration and precipitation, which in turn translates into creating more intense rainfall in some regions and more severe droughts in others.
Water Quality
- Due to the disruption in the snowpack, sea levels and water cycle, the quality of our water resources will be affected. The Earth's unique system of water purification is historically based on the timing of proper temperatures, precipitation amounts and water flow. Flooding would increase the amount of chemical runoffs from farms into the water supply. Inversely, drought would result in decreased water flow, which could raise pollutant concentrations with no outlet for dilution.

Nature