Water Related Sectors and Risks in Adaptation to Climate Change

Abstract

Global warming causes an increase in precipitation distribution, soil moisture, river and groundwater changes and evaporation, and has negative effects on sectors such as water supply-sanitation, ecosystems and biodiversity, agriculture, health, land use and forestry, urban settlements and infrastructure. Climate change projections show that the availability and accessibility of water resources will be directly affected. Turkey will primarily be affected by the decrease in water resources and drought, which will occur with the increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation. According to the pessimistic scenario, effects such as decrease in river flows and groundwater, increase in evaporation, decrease in soil moisture will occur. If the total water used in different sectors in Turkey is compared to the freshwater source, the water use index is approximately 26% and it is in the position of the country experiencing water stress. There is also a 10% decrease in precipitation and an increase in heavy precipitation in Sakarya province and the sectors that will be affected by these change are primarily water resources, agriculture, urban infrastructure, biodiversity, public health and industry. It is important and necessary to reduce the impact of climate change on water resources and improve the capacity to adapt to changes in order to strengthen water security, reduce disaster risk, and increase the resilience of ecosystems and economies. In this study, within the framework of adaptation studies to climate changes, sectoral effects, risks, fragility and opportunities were evaluated both in general and in Sakarya province, and local solution proposals were presented.