Global Water Resources Analysis Highlights Future Vulnerabilities

The EU Water and Global Change program (WATCH) released the final report on its analysis of the world’s water resources. According to the Community Research and Development Information Service, which provides information on all EU-supported research and development projects, WATCH provides the first assessment of the global hydrological cycle on a daily time frame at a 50-kilometer grid scale resolution for the 20^th and 21^st centuries. It highlights the importance of land use change and increasing consumption, in addition to climate change, on water resources. Among their findings, these variables combined could decrease future sub-tropical water availability by up to 30%.