Climate change may connect us, but global inequities perpetuate vastly different impacts

We begin this issue of World Water Policy Journal by recognizing the passing of one of our founding International Advisory Board members, Mark Pascoe. Well known to many of our readers, Mark was an inspiration to us and so numerous others around the world. Mark's contribution to helping address the world's water challenges over many decades and through numerous organizations, including the Australian Water Association, International Water Association, and the International Water Centre, is legendary. He had a passion for supporting young and new water professionals as they developed their own path. We, like so many others, are thankful for having known and worked with Mark, for the times we shared thoughts and developed ideas together, and for the inspiration he gave us to continue our efforts towards a better, more sustainable future. Our condolences to Mark's family, friends and all that had the pleasure of knowing him. In better news from our International Advisory Board, we also take this opportunity to congratulate Carmen dos Santos on her appointment as Angola's Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources following the country's recent elections. We wish Carmen great success in this important role, a role which will inherently link with challenging upstream issues of water and sanitation management. New evidence that the world is facing increasing challenges and aggravated effects of climate change seems to come daily. Since June 2022, Pakistan has endured severe monsoonal weather which, as of August, was equivalent to 2.9 times the national 30-year average. This resulted in widespread flooding and landslides that impacted 33 million people, caused more than 1500 deaths, destroyed over 287,000 houses and partially damaged another 662,000 homes, and killed 719,000 livestock. It resulted in more than 421,000 refugees but damage to 3500 km of roads and 149 bridges is continuing to impede the ability of people to flee to safer areas and is compromising aid efforts (Government of Pakistan and United Nations, 2022). The Horn of Africa is experiencing the worst drought in more than four decades, with rising food insecurity and malnutrition for 18.6 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, loss of seven million livestock essential to sustenance and livelihoods, causing a lack of water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning for over 11.6 million people, and contributing to escalating food prices impacted by macro-economic challenges, poor harvests, and rising prices on international markets (OCHA, 2022). In southeast Africa, several tropical storms and heavy rain events hammered the region in the early months of 2022, particularly Tropical Storm Ana which led to flooding in northern Madagascar, Malawi, and Mozambique, killing at least 70 people in January, and Cyclone Batsirai, which inundated southern Madagascar and caused hundreds of deaths in February. In September 2022, a rapidly strengthening tropical depression became high-Category 3 Hurricane Ian, which hit Cuba then intensified before hitting Florida, USA, as a high-Category 4 hurricane. It was the fifth strongest hurricane on record and the deadliest hurricane to hit that the state in 87 years (Wikipedia, 2022). And in Europe, an extended period of drought and widespread high and record temperatures in both southern and northern countries has resulted in low soil water moisture, increased fire risk, declining groundwater levels, and reduced river flows needed for energy production and navigation. These events are all interconnected—they are all part of the global water cycle that is being modified by climate change. But our ability to predict, deal with, and adapt to the impact of those changes is not equal. While there does appear to be a change in both the frequency and intensification of weather events globally, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted, gaps in data and information regarding the Southern Hemisphere constitutes a barrier to assessing the likelihood of increasing frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones beyond the North Atlantic Ocean (Gramling, 2022). Furthermore, while the extreme events are intensifying across the world due to climate change, we are also living perhaps the most dangerous threat of major war since 1945. Besides the loss of life and infrastructure, and broader impacts caused by disruption to energy, food, and water supply chains, the war in Ukraine has driven a wave of refugees from Ukraine (and Russia) that will also impact and aggravate other problems. This new world threat followed a pandemic that created vivid awareness of the interconnections between humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. The pandemic brought to our daily life the reality of the risks and of our vulnerability to the unbalanced environment that we have been creating for many decades. The need to consider even more dimensions in water policies and practices is pushing all water professionals to address another new level of complexity. This reality brings with it consciousness of our limitations in solving some of the problems immediately. The long-term targets to address climate change agreed in Paris in 2015 were never so far from being accomplished. But this may, ultimately, be our strength. There are no longer serious doubts about what is interacting, nor that problems must be addressed more comprehensively. So, through World Water Policy Journal, we advocate for this next step: a continuous emphasis on building more capability to understand the challenges and opportunities globally, and more capacity to act both locally and globally too! We welcome all of you in this very broad water community to share with us your thoughts, your research, and your experience and practices that can help to enhance this capacity. With the impacts of water and climate-related events so prominent in the news, reflecting a global reality of change, it is not surprising that many of the articles in this issue focus directly to the impacts of climate change on water, people, and the environment. In the first paper, Aayushee Swaraj and Basant Maheshwari discuss the role of groundwater in the lives of rural women in India. Whereas most of the published material focuses on scientific perspectives of water availability and development in the context of climate change and competition, this article examines the water challenges of Indian rural women in their routine life and discusses the impacts of depleting groundwater resources on their education, health, and the livelihood of their families. The authors examine existing policies and strategies and propose new approaches to address gender inequality and create opportunities for women in decision making, program development, and implementation. Joseph Omoniyi Adejuwon presents an analysis of the rainfall patterns for the Ibadan region of Nigeria. Driven by the need to address inadequate literature, lack of detailed research, and data restrictions, the author examined the trends and periodicities of rainfall from 1972 to 2020, identifying a climatic shift towards increased rainfall and a wetter period. The paper identifies a range of potential consequences of these changes, such as contamination of surface and groundwater, loss of life, property, and livelihoods, and suggests actions needed to address them. Ahmad Zeeshan Bhatti, Aitazaz Ahsan Farooque, Nicholas Krouglicof, Wayne Peters, Qing Li, and Bishnu Acharya use the case study of Prince Edward Island, Canada, to analyze climate change impacts on rainfed agriculture and identify potential mitigation strategies. Acknowledging impacts such as warming, seasonal shifts, varying precipitation and reducing water availability, the authors projected scenarios for the next 30–60 years to understand likely impacts on agriculture in different zones of the island and make suggestions for economic and policy adaptation towards sustainable agricultural management. Sandra Auma presents an assessment of the impacts of climate change on livestock water sources and livestock production, using the Karamoja region of Uganda as a case study. Surveys of local communities provided insights into the views about climate change in the region and about the impacts already being felt on the ground. In response, the author proposes a range of adaptation measures, including diversification of stock and crops, community awareness, water harvesting, and institutional capacity building. Through a case study of the Red River Basin, Vietnam, Chinh Van Le discusses the impact of a policy on exemption of irrigation service fees on irrigation performance. Assessing the impact of the policy across the 44,700-ha Cau Son Irrigation System, the author found that it had a significant negative impact on on-farm irrigation performance, no significant impact on agriculture productivity, and while net cultivation income increased, total income and gross cultivation incomes were not affected as the irrigation service fees are only a small percentage of total household incomes. Policy revisions are recommended. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Davendra Singh Malik, Vishal Kamboj, and Amit Kumar Sharma present their analysis of the waterbody status of the upper Ganga basin and its major tributaries. Using a range of water quality indices and 12 physicochemical parameters across eight sampling stations, the authors assessed the impact of human activity on water quality and its suitability for aquatic ecological diversity. While concluding that in the upper basin, especially the Ganga, the water quality was good and within acceptable limits, the study identified some impacting activities and the authors make recommendations on monitoring, emphasizing the importance of India's National Water Policy and National Water Mission as guiding policies. Finally, Never Mujere, Mhosisi Masocha, Hodson Makurira, and Dominic Mazvimavi present an assessment of the variation of river channel reach inflows on transmission losses in the Runde River catchment, Zimbabwe. Arid and semi-arid regions are characterized by low water availability and highly variable streamflows. River channel transmission losses add more complexity but understanding the contribution different factors make to the losses is difficult where there is limited measurement equipment and little data. Using regression models, the authors show that despite variations in flow events, river losses were related to reach inflows, suggesting that this simple analysis can be applied in similar data scarce situations. We leave you with two more pieces of news. First, we are very pleased to introduce Adeline Icyimpaye who has joined us as Managing Editor—welcome Adeline! Second, World Water Policy Journal will be published four times per year from 2023, including up to two special issues each year. Please keep a look out for more World Water Policy Journal news at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2639541x and in social media, eventually including a call for proposals for special issues. *Chinese Translation* 社论 标题:气候变化可能将我们联系在一起, 但全球不平等会持续产生截然不同的影响 在介绍本期《世界水政策杂志》内容之前, 我们对Mark Pascoe的逝世表示悼念, 他是我们的国际顾问委员会创始成员之一。我们的许多读者都知道, Mark是我们和世界各地许多其他人的灵感来源。几十年来, Mark通过包括澳大利亚水务协会 (Australian Water Association)、国际水协会 (International Water Association)和国际水中心 (International Water Centre)在内的众多组织, 为帮助应对世界水资源挑战一事作出了传奇性的贡献。他热衷于支持年轻的水资源专业人士发展自己的道路。我们和许多其他人一样, 感谢认识Mark并与他一起共事, 感谢我们曾共同分享观点、提出想法的经历, 感谢他给我们的灵感, 让我们继续努力实现更美好、更可持续的未来。我们向Mark的家人、朋友和所有有幸认识他的人表示哀悼。 我们的国际顾问委员会有更好的消息, 借此机会, 我们也祝贺Carmen dos Santos在安哥拉近期选举后被任命为该国渔业和海洋资源部长。我们祝愿Carmen在这一重要角色中取得巨大成功, 这一角色将与具有挑战性的、水和卫生设施管理方面的预防性问题存在内在联系。 关于世界正面临越来越多的挑战和气候变化加剧影响的新证据似乎每天都在出现。自2022年6月以来, 巴基斯坦经历了恶劣的季风天气, 截至8月, 季风造成的影响相当于全国30年平均水平的2.9倍。这导致了大范围的洪水和山体滑坡, 影响了3300万人, 造成1500多人死亡, 摧毁了287,000多所房屋, 部分损坏了另外662,000所房屋, 并杀死了719,000头牲畜。季风导致出现超过421,000名难民, 但3500公里道路和149座桥梁所遭遇的破坏继续阻碍人们逃往更安全的地区, 并阻碍了援助工作 (Government of Pakistan and UN, 2022)。非洲之角正在经历40多年来最严重的干旱, 埃塞俄比亚、肯尼亚和索马里地区1860万人的粮食不安全和营养不良情况日益严重, 损失了维持生计所必需的700万头牲畜, 导致超过1160万人缺乏水资源以供饮用、烹饪和清洁, 并对“受宏观经济挑战、收成不佳和国际市场价格上涨影响的粮食价格上涨”作贡献 (OCHA, 2022)。在非洲东南部, 几场热带风暴和大雨在2022年初的几个月里袭击了该地区, 特别是热带风暴“安娜”(Ana)导致马达加斯加北部、马拉维和莫桑比克出现洪水, 这在1月份造成至少70人死亡, 而气旋“巴兹莱”(Batsirai)则在2月份淹没了马达加斯加南部, 造成数百人死亡。2022年9月, 一场迅速加强的热带低气压变为3级飓风“伊恩”(Ian), 该飓风在袭击古巴之后得以加强, 随后变为4级飓风袭击美国佛罗里达州。这是该州有记录以来遭遇的第五大飓风, 也是87年来袭击该州的最致命飓风(Wikipedia, 2022)。在欧洲, 南部和北部国家经历的长期干旱和大范围的创纪录高温已导致土壤湿度低、火灾风险增加、地下水位下降、以及能源生产和航行所需的河流流量减少。 这些事件都是相互关联的——它们都是正在被气候变化改变的全球水循环的一部分。但我们在预测、应对和适应这些变化影响方面的能力并不相同。正如政府间气候变化专门委员会强调的那样, 尽管全球天气事件的频率和强度似乎确实发生了变化, 但关于南半球的数据和信息并不足够, 为评估“北大西洋以外的热带气旋在频率增加和强度上升方面的可能性”一事构成了阻碍 (Gramling, 2022)。此外, 虽然气候变化正在加剧世界各地的极端事件, 但我们也面临着自1945年以来可能最危险的重大战争威胁。除了生命和基础设施的损失, 以及能源、粮食、和供水链中断造成的更大影响, 乌克兰战争已推动了一波来自乌克兰 (和俄罗斯)的难民潮, 这也将影响和加剧其他问题。这一新的世界威胁是在一场大流行之后发生的, 后者使人们对人类、野生动物和生态系统之间的相互联系有了生动的认识。大流行给我们的日常生活带来了风险, 以及我们在面临几十年来一直在创造的不平衡环境时的脆弱性。 在水政策和实践中考虑更多方面, 这一需求正推动所有水专业人士应对另一个新的复杂程度。这一现实使我们意识到我们在立即解决某些问题方面的局限性。2015年在巴黎商定的应对气候变化的长期目标远未实现。但这最终可能会成为我们的力量。关于“是什么在相互影响”的严重怀疑不复存在, 也不再需要更全面地解决问题。因此, 通过《世界水政策杂志》, 我们倡导下一步:继续强调建立更多了解全球挑战和机遇的能力, 以及更多在本地和全球范围内采取行动的能力!我们欢迎在这个非常广泛的水社区中的所有人与我们分享想法、研究以及经验和实践, 以帮助提高这种能力。 鉴于水和气候相关事件的影响在新闻中如此突出, 同时反映了全球变化的现实, 因此, 本期收录的许多文章直接聚焦于气候变化对水、人类和环境的影响。 第一篇论文中, Aayushee Swaraj和Basant Maheshwari探讨了地下水在印度农村妇女生活中的作用。尽管大多数已发表的研究都聚焦于气候变化和竞争情境下水资源可用量与发展的科学观点, 但这篇论文分析了印度农村妇女在日常生活中面临的水资源挑战, 并探讨了地下水资源枯竭对其教育、健康、及其家人生计产生的影响。作者研究了现有的政策和战略, 并提出了用于应对性别不平等问题的新方法, 并为妇女参与决策、项目发展和实施一事创造机会。 Joseph Omoniyi Adejuwon对尼日利亚伊巴丹地区的降雨模式进行了分析。为了应对“文献不足、详细研究的缺乏以及数据限制”, 作者分析了1972年至2020年的降雨趋势和周期性, 识别了气候向降雨增加和湿润时期的转变。文章识别了这些变化的一系列潜在后果, 例如地表水和地下水污染, 生命、财产和生计的损失, 并提出了解决这些问题所需的行动。 Ahmad Zeeshan Bhatti、Aitazaz Ahsan Farooque、Nicholas Krouglicof、Wayne Peters、Qing Li和Bishnu Acharya将加拿大爱德华王子岛作为案例研究, 分析了气候变化对雨养农业的影响并识别了潜在的缓解策略。通过承认气候变暖、季节转变、降水变化和可用水量减少等影响, 作者预测了未来30-60年的情景, 以理解对该岛不同地区的农业可能产生的影响, 并就用于实现可持续农业管理的经济适应和政策适应提出建议。 Sandra Auma以乌干达卡拉莫贾地区为案例研究, 评估了气候变化对畜牧水源和畜牧生产的影响。对当地社区的调查得出了一系列见解, 后者有关于对该地区气候变化的看法以及实地影响。作为响应, 作者提出了一系列适应措施, 包括牲畜和作物多样化、社区意识、集水、以及制度能力建设。 通过对越南红河流域进行案例研究, Chinh Van Le探讨了免征灌溉服务费政策对灌溉绩效的影响。通过评估该政策对44,700公顷Cau Son灌溉系统的影响, 作者发现, 该政策对农场灌溉绩效产生了显著的负面影响, 对农业生产力没有显著影响, 并且尽管净种植收入有所增加, 但总收入和耕作总收入不受影响, 因为灌溉服务费只占家庭总收入的一小部分。文章提出了政策修改建议。 Arvind Kumar Sharma、Davendra Singh Malik、Vishal Kamboj和Amit Kumar Sharma分析了恒河上游流域及其主要支流的水体状况。作者使用八个采样站的一系列水质指标和十二个物理化学参数, 评估了人类活动对水质的影响及其对水生生态多样性的适用性。文章的结论认为, 上游流域 (特别是恒河)的水质良好且在可接受范围内, 同时, 文章识别了一些影响活动, 提出了监测建议, 强调了印度国家水政策和国家水使命作为指导政策的重要性。 最后, Never Mujere、Mhosisi Masocha、Hodson Makurira和Dominic Mazvimavi评估了津巴布韦伦迪河流域中河道河段流入量的变化对传输损耗的影响。干旱和半干旱地区的特点是可用水量低和流量变化大。河道传输损耗增加了更多复杂性, 但在测量设备有限且数据很少的情况下, 很难理解不同因素对损耗的贡献。作者使用回归模型表明, 尽管流量事件存在差异, 但河流损失与河段流入量有关, 这表明文这种简单的分析能应用于类似的数据稀缺情况。 最后, 我们带来两条消息。第一, 我们非常高兴地介绍, Adeline Icyimpaye加入本刊并担任副总编——欢迎Adeline!第二, 《世界水政策杂志》将从2023年起每年出版四期, 其中每年最多发表两期特刊。请在https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2639541x和社交媒体上继续关注更多本刊消息, 包括特刊研究计划征集。 献上最美好的祝愿。 Jeff Camkin|Susana Neto 主编 关键词:气候变化；水政策与实践；极端事件；区域影响与解决方案 参考文献: OCHA. (2022). Horn of Africa Drought: Regional Humanitarian Overview & Call to Action. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 4 July 2022. Available at https://www.unocha.org/horn. Government of Pakistan and United Nations. (2022). 2022 Floods Response Plan: Pakistan. 30 August 2022. Available at https://pakistan.un.org/en/197498-pakistan-2022-floods-response-plan. Gramling, C. (2022). Climate change intensified deadly storms in Africa in early 2022. ScienceNews. 11 April 2022. Available at https://www.sciencenews.org/article/climate-change-storms-deadly-africa-early-2022. United Nations Climate Change. (2022). The Paris Agreement: What is the Paris Agreement. Available at https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement. Wikipedia. (2022). Hurricane Ian. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ian. *Translation into Spanish* EDITORIAL Título: El cambio climático puede conectarnos, pero las desigualdades globales perpetúan impactos muy diferentes Comenzamos esta edición de World Water Policy Journal de de de Mark Pascoe. de Mark de Mark a a de Le a a Mark, las ideas a de Mark, de de esta a Carmen dos Santos de de de las a Carmen de de a a cambio de 2022, a de 30 de a 33 de de 1500 de a de a de pero km de 149 de las a de de 2022). 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Never Mujere, Mhosisi Masocha, Hodson Dominic Mazvimavi de de de las de de muy de pero de diferentes a las de de a de las de las de de simple puede de de Le dos muy de a Adeline a Adeline! World Water Policy Journal a de 2023, dos a World Water Policy Journal https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2639541x las de Jeff Camkin|Susana Neto impactos OCHA. (2022). Horn of Africa Drought: Regional Humanitarian Overview & Call to Action. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 4 July 2022. Available at https://www.unocha.org/horn. Government of Pakistan and United Nations. (2022). 2022 Floods Response Plan: Pakistan. 30 August 2022. Available at https://pakistan.un.org/en/197498-pakistan-2022-floods-response-plan. Gramling, C. (2022). Climate change intensified deadly storms in Africa in early 2022. ScienceNews. 11 April 2022. Available at https://www.sciencenews.org/article/climate-change-storms-deadly-africa-early-2022. United Nations Climate Change. (2022). The Paris Agreement: What is the Paris Agreement. Available at https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement. Wikipedia. (2022). Hurricane Ian. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ian.