Climate Change
Climate change has been called the defining challenge of our time. Its impacts are already evident and will intensify over time if left unaddressed. As part of the global array of networks of systems to monitor climate change, satellites now provide a vital and important means of bringing observations of the climate system together for a global perspective. Satellites contribute to the monitoring of greenhouse gases related to deforestation and industrial processes, the changing of ice in polar caps and glaciers, sea-level rise, temperature changes, as well as several essential climate variables.
"Climatology has been regarded as a subdiscipline of Meteorology for quite some time. Early climate classifications refer to temperature and precipitation as the main factors determining regional climate. Climate parameters such as the occurence of vegetation types, the length of the vegetation period as well as the date of flower blossoms indicate the multidisciplinary character of climatology. Today, climatology or climate research is also referred to as geobiosphere dynamics. It describes the complex interrelations between climate subsystems such as the atmosphere, land, oceans and the biosphere. Despite the considerable growth of the field's scope, meteorology remains central to it, not least because the atmosphere represents the most important transport medium of the climate system" (University of Vienna, 2018).
"Climate change will affect the availability, quality and quantity of water for basic human needs, threatening the effective enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation for potentially billions of people. The hydrological changes induced by climate change will add challenges to the sustainable management of water resources, which are already under severe pressure in many regions of the world. Food security, human health, urban and rural settlements, energy production, industrial development, economic growth, and ecosystems are all water-dependent and thus vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Climate change adaptation and mitigation through water management is therefore critical to sustainable development, and essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction" (UNWATER, 2020, p. 1).
University of Vienna. (2018) https://img.univie.ac.at/en/meteorology-general-information/
UN Water. (2020). World Water Development Report 2020. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000372985.locale=en
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