Climate Changes Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity

Climatic changes have affected and will continue to affect human health, water supply, agriculture, transportation, energy, coastal areas, and many other sectors of society, with increasingly adverse impacts on the Nile Basin Riparian economy and quality of life.

Observed and projected climate change impacts vary across the regions of the Nile Basin. Selected impacts emphasized in the region are shown, and many more are explored in detail in this chapter. Water quality and quantity are being affected by climate change. Such changes in precipitation and runoff, combined with changes in consumption and withdrawal, have reduced surface and groundwater supplies in many areas. These trends are expected to continue, increasing the likelihood of water shortages for many uses. Water quality is also diminishing in many areas, particularly due to sediment and contaminant concentrations after heavy downpours. Sea level rise, storms and storm surges, and changes in surface and groundwater use patterns are expected to compromise the sustainability of coastal freshwater aquifers and wetlands. In most of the basin regions, water resources managers and planners will encounter new risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities that may not be properly managed with existing practices. Meanwhile, using scientific information to prepare for climate changes and different climate models techniques in advance can provide economic opportunities, and proactively managing the risks can reduce impacts and costs over time. All of these items have been addressed in this chapter.