816342 Possible impacts of climate change on water resources

Type
Lecture
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Koch, Franziska , Mehdi-Schulz, Bano , Formayer, Herbert , Schulz, Karsten
Organisation
Hydrology and Water Management
Offered in
Sommersemester 2025
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

This lecture series introduces the climate system and the interrelations with the hydrological system, it has a particular focus on their interactions at the local and at the global scales. The development of climate scenarios will be presented and their impacts on the water resources sector will be highlighted, with case studies from mountains, agriculture and forestry. The course integrates information from the fields of meteorology, hydrology, agriculture, forestry and alpine hazard research. The lectures will provide information on:
- climate and weather at different spatial scales (including past and future trends)
- global and regional climate models, and weather forecast systems
- the water cycle and water balance components and their interactions with climatic processes
- soil, vegetation, atmosphere interactions, with an emphasis on evaporation processes
- examples of climate change impact / adaptation studies with relevance to the water sector.
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

After participation in the course, the students will be able to:
•explain the coupled atmospheric-hydrological system;
•identify the boundary conditions of different climate change scenarios;
•describe the impact of climate factors (precipitation, temperature) on evapotranspiration, infiltration, runoff processes and cryosphere;
•discuss the impacts of climate change on agriculture, forestry, alpine risks, and related hydrological aspects (e.g. irrigation, hydropower capacity, snow cover and tourism, wood production, etc.);
•identify and interpret the hard and soft facts of climate change discussions.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.