Tag: International Water Resources
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Cornerstone Course – Day 3: Water quality
Water has many exotic physical properties: surface tension, transparency in green and blue wavelengths (allows photosynthesis), protection from wavelengths shorter than UV light (high biodiversity). Surface water however looses lots of biodivserty (76% in freshwater, 39% in seawater). The physiological water cycle in humans consist of 5 litres of blood that transport sugars, amino acids…
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Cornerstone Course – Day 3: Water use case study
A case study about the Zambezi river basin. There a several big flood planes (wetlands each the size of Switzerland). It also includes Lake Malawi and there are 2 large dams (colonial heritage) for energy generation. Half of the basin is highland above 1000m, the other half falls towards the sea. Temperature is constant up…
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Cornerstone Course – Day 3: International Water Resources
Water resources are unevenly distributed. Less than 10 countries have 60% of the world’s available fresh water. Water stress appears when there is not enough renewable water to replace the withdrawal. Conventionally, 40% of withdrawal of the available yearly resources is considered to be the threshold for water stress. Climate change and population change increase…