GEF

Unit 4  |  The Global Water Crisis 106 However, climate change is not the only problem. Levels in both the Indus and the Ganges have been dropping due to growing water withdrawals for irrigation, and severe levels of pollution have also reduced the viability of these rivers. What can we do about climate change and its impact on water? Climate change mitigation is the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through more efficient use of energy or substituting renewable energy for fossil fuel sources. Globally, relatively little progress has been made in mitigation efforts, and in fact greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise steadily each year. However, activists as well as some governments and businesses have been increasingly vocal about the need to urgently cut GHG emissions. Even with aggressive efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emis- sions, the climate will continue to warm because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for several decades after it is released. Therefore, it is vital that we begin adapting to climate change and its growing impacts on water resources. Unfairly, climate change most negatively impacts the world’s poorest citizens, many of whom are dependent on small-scale agriculture. With increased extreme temperatures, drought, and flooding, developing world farmers can find their day-to- day survival threatened when crops fail. One advantage that farmers have in adapting to climate change is that they are already skilled at adjusting to seasonal variations and unpredictability in rainfall and temperature. However, adapting to the much greater scale of climate change is requiring new techniques and approaches to water management. Increased use of drip irrigation and other water-saving technologies can markedly decrease the water demand of agriculture, the sector that uses the most water globally. Rainfall harvesting from rooftops and other struc- tures is proving to be a valuable approach to increasing the reliability of the water supply. MITIGATION Lessening the force or inten- sity of something unpleasant or harmful, such as green- house gas emissions. RENEWABLE ENERGY Energy produced from resources that can sustain themselves indefinitely, such as wind and solar power. DRIP IRRIGATION A form of irrigation that saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. RAINWATER HARVESTING Accumulating and storing rainwater for human use.