Population Changes and Water

January 24, 2011

Population Changes and Water

L DeWayne Cecil, PhD (Idaho Falls, ID), Western Region Climate Services Director NOAA-NCDC. "Live from the American Meteorological Society Conference, Seattle."

DeWayne Cecil is a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and was formerly with NASA. He is a frequent guest on the Sharon Kleyne Hour - Power of Water, speaking on weather and climate change.

Dr. Cecil's subject was the National Climate Service (as opposed to the National Weather Service), which is run by NOAA. He noted that the top three priorities for the NCS Western Region are "water, water and water."

Sharon observed that Earth will never change to suit us and that to survive, we must adapt to the changing Earth. Especially with a predicted global population of nine billion by 2035 (it is now 6.8 billion).

Dr. Cecil said that long-range forecasting is becoming more and more critical and that ideally, NOAA would like to publish more than one or two seasonal forecasts a year. They would like to be able to design research enabling them to map out at least the next two to five years, and to predict extreme climatic events.

The Salt Lake Basin is receiving less and less water and the population is expected to double in the next few years. This must be resolved.

(Categories: Ecology and the environment; global warming and climate change; water and sanitation; L, DeWayne Cecil; 2011)