Vergangene Veranstaltung

Will there be enough water in the future to feed us all?

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wouter Dorigo works at the Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation at the Vienna University of Technology.

Life on Earth is intimately connected to the availability of water in space and time. With a growing world population and living standards, human pressure on freshwater resources is continuously increasing, as is the exposure of humans to weather and climate-related extremes like droughts, storms, and floods. This is further exacerbated by climate change, e.g., by shifts in precipitation patterns or the intensification of extreme events. Hence human access and vulnerability to water resources is increasingly being challenged.

In this presentation, I will dig into recently observed variability and trends in the water cycle and their causes. Both physical and anthropogenic impacts and effects will be discussed. The use and availability of water for agriculture will be reviewed against socio-economic developments and the growing competition in water use between sectors.