This Honduran “desert” was pasture and farmland before Hurricane Mitch arrived in November 1998.
Photograph by Bradley E. Clift
As the planet experiences global warming, climate changes will express themselves most obviously through water—with scientists predicting increased periods of drought and flooding, melting glaciers, and changing rain and snowfall patterns.
We are already seeing large-scale changes in places such as the Andes and the Himalaya, where glaciers are disappearing, taking with them the source of drinking and irrigation water for thousands of people. Floods, droughts, storms, and other climate-related natural disasters forced 20 million people from their homes in 2008.
That same year, India faced the dislocation of some three million people when the Kosi River breached a dam and roared out of the Himalaya, causing the worst flooding of that river in 50 years. Then, ten months later, India witnessed its driest June in 80 years with millions of farmers unable to plant their crops, illustrating the increased unpredictability and extreme nature of severe weather and climate-related events in an era of global warming.
The solution? Some experts point to better planning and water resource use, sometimes in the form of building dams and flood control structures, while others tackle the less tangible issue of greenhouse gas emissions.
Fast Facts
- Australia remains locked in a decade-long drought deemed the worst in the country’s 117 years of recordkeeping.
- In 2009, famine stalked millions in the Horn of Africa, as failed rains led to the worst food crisis in Ethiopia and Kenya in a quarter century.
- In November 2007, Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue stood outside the State Capitol and led a prayer for rain, beseeching the heavens to turn a spigot on for his parched state.
Did You Know?
Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at UC-San Diego, estimate there is a 50 percent chance that Lake Mead—the vast reservoir that delivers Colorado River water to tens of millions of people and one million acres (404,686 hectares) of irrigated land—will dry up by 2021.More About Climate Change and Water
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Climate Change and Water Quiz
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Australia's Dry Run
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Photos: Underwater Church Reappears
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2000-2010: A Decade of (Climate) Change
Climate change dominated the environmental discourse this decade. What will explode on the scene from 2010 on? Water and food issues, and China's continued economic growth, according to experts.
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Why Care About Water?
The National Geographic Society’s freshwater initiative is a multiyear global effort to inspire and empower individuals and communities to conserve freshwater and the extraordinary diversity of life that rivers, lakes, and wetlands sustain.
Freshwater Advocates
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Sandra Postel
Sandra is a leading authority on international freshwater issues and is spearheading our global freshwater initiative.
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Shannon Switzer
Shannon Switzer is an inspring young photographer and conservationist.
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Zeb Hogan
Zeb travels to the most endangered freshwater ecosystems striving to save critically endangered fish.
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Water Currents, by Sandra Postel and Others
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Bottled Water is Booming
Despite environmental impacts, Americans are buying more bottled water than ever.
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Salt Threatens World's Largest Mangrove Forest
Agriculture and development imperil the Sundarbans in South Asia.
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Protecting Rivers From Dams
New solutions are needed for ecosystems and livlihoods.
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The World's Water
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Why Should You Care?
Learn more about the world's water challenge with photos, stories, videos, and more.
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Visualizing Our Water Footprint
You might be surprised to see how the daily choices you make affect critical watersheds around the world.
