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Title: Sensitivity of future U.S. Water shortages to socioeconomic and climate drivers: a case study in Georgia using an integrated human-earth system modeling framework

Journal Article · · Climatic Change
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Here, one of the most important interactions between humans and climate is in the demand and supply of water. Humans withdraw, use, and consume water and return waste water to the environment for a variety of socioeconomic purposes, including domestic, commercial, and industrial use, production of energy resources and cooling thermal-electric power plants, and growing food, fiber, and chemical feed stocks for human consumption. Uncertainties in the future human demand for water interact with future impacts of climatic change on water supplies to impinge on water management decisions at the international, national, regional, and local level, but until recently tools were not available to assess the uncertainties surrounding these decisions. This paper demonstrates the use of a multi-model framework in a structured sensitivity analysis to project and quantify the sensitivity of future deficits in surface water in the context of climate and socioeconomic change for all U.S. states and sub-basins. The framework treats all sources of water demand and supply consistently from the world to local level. The paper illustrates the capabilities of the framework with sample results for a river sub-basin in the U.S. state of Georgia.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1250380
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1251562
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-105762; PII: 1602
Journal Information:
Climatic Change, Journal Name: Climatic Change Vol. 136 Journal Issue: 2; ISSN 0165-0009
Publisher:
Springer Science + Business MediaCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Comparative study of GCMs, RCMs, downscaling and hydrological models: a review toward future climate change impact estimation journal November 2019
Land aptitude for horticultural crops and water requirement determination under unsustainable water resources condition journal December 2018
Integrated human-earth system modeling—state of the science and future directions journal June 2018

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