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ACQWA

Project name:

ACQWA -Alpine Climate Change and Impacts for the Quantity and Quality of Water
Project leader:

Martin Beniston (Universiät Genf; Co-ordinator)
Andreas Gobiet (Uni Graz )

Project team:






Andreas Gobiet (Project leader)

Georg Heinrich (PhD Student: Uncertainty Assessment)
Reinhard Fuchs (PhD Student: Uncertainty Assessment)(Master Student: Statistical Downscaling)
Armin Leuprecht (Senior PostDoc: Statistical Downscaling)
Thomas Mendlik (Scientist: Statistical Downscaling)
Andreas Prein (PhD Student: Dynamical Downscaling)

Partners:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forschungsanstalt AGROSCOPE Reckenholz-Taenikon
Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione Ambientale del Piemonte
Agenzia Regionale per la Proteziione dell'Ambiente
Universität für Bodenkultur Wien
Universidad de la Serena
Centro de Estudios Cientificos
METEO-FRANCE
Instituto Torcuato di Tella
Cesi Ricerca S.p.A
Università degli Studi di l'Aquila
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas
Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque S.p.A.
ENEL Produzione S.p.A.
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Fondazione Montagna Sicura
The Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics
Consignoli Nazionale delle Ricerche
Institut of Water Problems and Hydropower of the Kyrgyz National Academy of Science
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA)
Monte Rosa Star S.r.l.
Max Planck Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e.V.
Ente Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso
Politecnico di Milano
Universität Bern
The University of Birmingham
Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement
Universität Graz
University of Dundee

Sponsor:

EU (FP7)

Duration:Oct. 2008 - Mar. 2014

 

Abstract:

As the evidence for human induced climate change becomes clearer, so too does the realization that its effects will have impacts on natural environment and socio-economic systems. Some regions are more vulnerable than others, both to physical changes and to the consequences for ways of life. ACQWA assesses the impacts of a changing climate on the quantity and quality of water in mountain regions. Modeling techniques are used to project the influence of climatic change on the major determinants of river discharge at various time and space scales. Regional climate models provide the essential information on shifting precipitation and temperature patterns, and snow, ice, and biosphere models feed into hydrological models in order to assess the changes in seasonality, amount, and incidence of extreme events in various catchment areas. Environmental and socio-economic responses to changes in hydrological regimes are analyzed in terms of hazards, aquatic ecosystems, hydropower, tourism, agriculture, and the health implications of changing water quality. Attention is devoted to the interactions between land use/land cover changes, and changing or conflicting water resource demands. Adaptation and policy options are elaborated on the basis of the model results.

The methodological developments gained from a European mountain focus will be used to address water issues in regions whose economic conditions and political structures may compromise capacities to respond and adapt, such as the Andes and Central Asia, where complex problems resulting from asymmetric power relations and less robust institutions arise. Methodologies developed to study European mountains and their institutional frameworks will identify vulnerabilities and be used to evaluate a range of policy options.

 

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