Water in Celtic Countries: Quantity, Quality and Climate Variability (Proceedings of the Fourth InterCeltic Colloquium on Hydrology and Management of Water Resources, Guimarães, Portugal, July 2005).  IAHS Publ. 310, 2007, 49-56.

 

Regional hydrological impacts of climate and socio-economic change in North West England, UK

 

IAN PAUL HOLMAN

Institute of Water and Environment, Cranfield University, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4DT, UK

i.holman@cranfield.ac.uk

 

Abstract An integrated approach to assessing the regional hydrological impacts of climate and socio-economic change is described for North West England, UK for the 2050s. A series of models were linked to investing­ate the effects of future climate and socio-economic change on the sectors driving landscape change. Many factors will affect future catchment behaviour including changed precipitation and temperature regimes, flooding, urbanization, woodland establishment, and changes in cropping and rotations. The results show that to focus on the direct impacts of climate change is to neglect the potentially important role of policy, societal values and economic processes in shaping the landscape of our catchments, and thus hydrological processes.

 

Key words  climate change; numerical modelling; socio-economic aspects; water management; water resources