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Many of the impacts of climate change are related to water in one way or another. Climate change impacts agricultural development, leads to rising sea levels, induces wildfires, and causes droughts and floods.
Fremont, CA: Water industry is expected to make many changes in the coming years due to rapid urbanisation, extreme climate change, growing consumer demand and evolving digital technologies. These developments would present a diverse collection of problems that must be resolved in order to remain competitive within the industry.
Acting on the Mounting Impact of Severe Weather Events
Many of the impacts of climate change are related to water in one way or another. Climate change impacts agricultural development, leads to rising sea levels, induces wildfires, and causes droughts and floods.For instance, with more than half of the world's population living within 200 km of the coast by 2050, rising sea levels and severe storm surges would have a major effect on coastal communities. Hard infrastructure systems such as seawalls, dikes and levees may be designed to protect coastal communities from significant potential floods, but the use of advanced water modelling tools may help to recognise existing vulnerabilities and suggest possible ways to better address these coastal challenges.
Security of Agricultural Production
According to the UN, the world's population is expected to hit more than nine billion by 2050. In order to ensure that everyone has enough food, it is projected that global food production needs to be increased by 70%. This needs more arable land for crop production, with more extensive and more productive irrigation. All this will challenge water resources and habitats. In order to be effective, efficient irrigation management and strategies such as erosion risk management, flood warning systems and precision farming systems can be used to maximise agricultural production using the least amount of water.
