Economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous United States
A national-scale simulation-optimization model was created to generate estimates of economic impacts associated with changes in water supply and demand as influenced by climate change. Water balances were modeled for the 99 assessment sub-regions, and are presented for 18 water resource regions in t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Netherlands
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106464 |
| _version_ | 1811087962185662464 |
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| author | Henderson, James Rodgers, Charles Jones, Russell Smith, Joel Strzepek, Kenneth Martinich, Jeremy |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science Henderson, James Rodgers, Charles Jones, Russell Smith, Joel Strzepek, Kenneth Martinich, Jeremy |
| author_sort | Henderson, James |
| collection | MIT |
| description | A national-scale simulation-optimization model was created to generate estimates of economic impacts associated with changes in water supply and demand as influenced by climate change. Water balances were modeled for the 99 assessment sub-regions, and are presented for 18 water resource regions in the United States. Benefit functions are developed for irrigated agriculture, municipal and domestic water use, commercial and industrial water use, and hydroelectric power generation. Environmental flows below minimal levels required for environmental needs are assessed a penalty. As a demonstration of concept for the model, future climate is projected using a climate model ensemble for two greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions scenarios: a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario in which no new GHG controls are implemented, and an exemplary mitigation policy (POL) scenario in which future GHG emissions are mitigated. Damages are projected to grow less during the 21st century under the POL scenario than the BAU scenario. The largest impacts from climate change are projected to be on non-consumptive uses (e.g., environmental flows and hydropower) and relatively lower-valued consumptive uses (e.g., agriculture), as water is reallocated during reduced water availability conditions to supply domestic, commercial, and industrial uses with higher marginal values. Lower GHG concentrations associated with a mitigation policy will result in a smaller rise in temperature and thus less extensive damage to some water resource uses. However, hydropower, environmental flow penalty, and agriculture were shown to be sensitive to the change in runoff as well. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:54:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/106464 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:54:35Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Springer Netherlands |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1064642022-10-01T17:56:17Z Economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous United States Henderson, James Rodgers, Charles Jones, Russell Smith, Joel Strzepek, Kenneth Martinich, Jeremy Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Global Change Science Strzepek, Kenneth A national-scale simulation-optimization model was created to generate estimates of economic impacts associated with changes in water supply and demand as influenced by climate change. Water balances were modeled for the 99 assessment sub-regions, and are presented for 18 water resource regions in the United States. Benefit functions are developed for irrigated agriculture, municipal and domestic water use, commercial and industrial water use, and hydroelectric power generation. Environmental flows below minimal levels required for environmental needs are assessed a penalty. As a demonstration of concept for the model, future climate is projected using a climate model ensemble for two greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions scenarios: a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario in which no new GHG controls are implemented, and an exemplary mitigation policy (POL) scenario in which future GHG emissions are mitigated. Damages are projected to grow less during the 21st century under the POL scenario than the BAU scenario. The largest impacts from climate change are projected to be on non-consumptive uses (e.g., environmental flows and hydropower) and relatively lower-valued consumptive uses (e.g., agriculture), as water is reallocated during reduced water availability conditions to supply domestic, commercial, and industrial uses with higher marginal values. Lower GHG concentrations associated with a mitigation policy will result in a smaller rise in temperature and thus less extensive damage to some water resource uses. However, hydropower, environmental flow penalty, and agriculture were shown to be sensitive to the change in runoff as well. United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Atmospheric Programs (Contract #EP-W-07-072) 2017-01-12T19:41:29Z 2017-01-12T19:41:29Z 2013-07 2015-02 2016-08-18T15:19:32Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1381-2386 1573-1596 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106464 Henderson, James, Charles Rodgers, Russell Jones, Joel Smith, Kenneth Strzepek, and Jeremy Martinich. “Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in the Coterminous United States.” Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 20, no. 1 (July 27, 2013): 135–157. en http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11027-013-9483-x Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Creative Commons Attribution http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Author(s) application/pdf Springer Netherlands Springer Netherlands |
| spellingShingle | Henderson, James Rodgers, Charles Jones, Russell Smith, Joel Strzepek, Kenneth Martinich, Jeremy Economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous United States |
| title | Economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous United States |
| title_full | Economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous United States |
| title_fullStr | Economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | Economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous United States |
| title_short | Economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous United States |
| title_sort | economic impacts of climate change on water resources in the coterminous united states |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106464 |
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