IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER RESOURCES IN TURKEY

Global climate change affects the temperature and precipitation. These changes have serious impacts on the availability of water resources on regional basis. Turkey, being located in the Mediterranean Basin, is predicted to be severely affected by the adverse effects of global climate change, particularly in terms of water resources. It is important to figure out the situation of the country in terms of water scarcity induced by anthropogenic climate change in order to provide rational measures for adaptation to climate change. The paper investigates the impact of climate change on water resources in Turkey at national level by collaborating the related literature, considering both the past observations and future predictions. Legal status of Turkey in terms of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions from Turkey, effects of climate change on temperature and precipitation in Turkey, effects of climate change on water resources potential, sea level rise and floods in Turkey, examples from different regions of the country and measures of adaptation to climate change impacts were investigated extensively.