A position paper on climate change by UNHCR’s Independent Expert on human rights, water and sanitation, Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque, has recently become available. The paper examines the legal obligations concerning the rights to water and to sanitation, as well as those arising from the climate change regime. It further outlines the impact of climate change on the enjoyment of the rights to water and to sanitation, and offers recommendations on integrating human rights into climate change negotiations.
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After a week of massive flooding in Myanmar, France and China, the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) has urged governments to take flood risk into account in urban planning, and citizens to avoid building in flood prone areas.
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Climate and other drivers of change raise questions about the continued reliance on surface water resources, prompting countries to fundamentally rethink groundwater management strategies. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has issued Water Policy Brief 32, titled «Banking on Groundwater in Times of Change». The findings are in line with «Managing the water buffer for development and climate change adaptation».
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The presentations for the International Workshop on Advances in Flood Forecasting and the Implications for Risk Management are now available.
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29 September–1 October 2010, Rotterdam • Deltas in Times of Climate Change Deltas have a lot to offer. They are close to the sea and inland waterways. Their soils are fertile. They are therefore the base of many large and fast growing cities. But as populations grow, deltas and their cities are becoming more vulnerable. Floods, land subsidence, traffic congestion, air pollution and salt intrusion loom up as common threats. Climate change aggravates these problems.
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5–16 July 2010, Utrecht • Planet Mars has water ice near its surface, and dry rivers, deltas and gigantic canyons attest to past water flow on the surface. But how much water did flow on Mars? What was the past climate, and how long was the planet wet? Was there ever life on Mars and could we live there in the future?
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25–26 May 2010, Alkmaar • International Workshop on Advances in Flood Forecasting and the Implications for Risk Management. Recent developments in flood forecasting allow for better quantification of uncertainties that come with flood forecasting modelling.
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10–11 May 2010, Geneva • The workshop will bring together countries and main international actors engaged in activities on water and adaptation to climate change, in particular in transboundary basins. It aims to exchange practical experience and share lessons-learned on the technical and strategic aspects of adapting to climate change, and analyse the specific challenges of adapting water management to climate change in the transboundary context.
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Snow research is an interdisciplinary field, as reflected in variety of books dedicated to snow and its various aspects. Such a wide range of interest and knowledge in snow makes common descriptions of snow as well as common measurement practices very desirable. The classification deals primarily with seasonal snow, even though many concepts in the present snow classification can also be applied to firn, which is the first stage in the formation of glacier ice.
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