Impact of climate change on water resources in Iran

Climate change may be defined as a change in the time variation of weather conditions over a period of time. It is caused due to amount of precipitation, temperature, rate of evaporation, and variation in solar radiation received by earth. Other than that, human activities have also been identified as significant causes of climate change and often referred to as global warming, and all regions of the world are expected to experience a net negative impact of climate change on water resources and freshwater ecosystems where, intensity and characteristics of the impact can vary significantly from region to region. It is worth mentioning that flash floods and drought are a worldwide hazard and it is necessary to address these complicated events. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand the climate to provide adequate supplies of good-quality water for all people living today and future generations and sustain crucial functions of ecosystems. Several models have been used to predict climate change but long-term prediction of weather parameter is a challenge required for water resources management. For this reason, Fourier series and The Francou and Rodier empirical approach have been used for assessment of precipitation and flood analysis, respectively. It has been found that, the main effects of climate change related to water resources are rising temperature, shifts in precipitation patterns, snow cover, and increasing the likelihood of floods and droughts. Climate change may significantly change the seasonal variation in river flow changes too. © Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2019.