waterthepotentialconsequencesofclimatevariabilityand（18页）.docVIP

Water: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for the Water Resources of the United States The Report of the Water Sector Assessment Team of the National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change For the U.S. Global Change Research Program Lead Author Peter H. Gleick, Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security Co-Chairs of Water Sector D. Briane Adams, U.S. Geological Survey Peter H. Gleick, Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security September 2000 This Report was supported by the U.S. Department of the Interior though the U.S. Geological Survey (Grant #? 98HQAG2118)  Executive Summary of the Water Sector Report of the National Assessment The water resources of the United States of America, like the water anywhere on the planet, are an integral part of the global hydrologic cycle. Precipitation originates as evaporation from land and the oceans. Soil moisture is used by plants, which return more moisture to the atmosphere. Water that does not evaporate or transpire or seep into aquifers runs off to form the nation’s streams and rivers. Snow stored in winter in the mountains provides water for rivers and deltas in the spring and summer. Storms bring extra moisture; droughts arise from protracted periods of low rainfall – all as part of our natural climate. Over the past century, the United States has built a vast and complex infrastructure to provide clean water for drinking and for industry, dispose of wastes, facilitate transportation, generate electricity, irrigate crops, and reduce the risks of floods and droughts. This infrastructure has brought tremendous benefits, albeit at a substantial economic and environmental cost. To the average citizen, the nation’s dams, aqueducts, reservoirs, treatment plants, and pipes are largely invisible and taken for granted. Yet they help insulate us from wet and dry years and moderate ot