Please note that this session was withdrawn and is no longer available in the respective programme. This withdrawal might have been the result of a merge with another session.
ITS4.5/CL0.7 | Combating Climate Change in Arid Regions: Strategies for Mitigation, Adaptation, and Risk Management
Combating Climate Change in Arid Regions: Strategies for Mitigation, Adaptation, and Risk Management
Convener: Matteo Zampieri | Co-conveners: David Yates, Thang Luong, Hari Prasad Dasari, Ibrahim Hoteit
This session addresses the escalating challenges posed by climate change in diverse arid regions worldwide, including the Middle East, Northern Africa, Eastern and South Western Africa, Southwest United States, Northern Mexico, Atacama and Patagonia regions in South America, Turkestan and Gobi regions in Central Asia, and the Australian Outback. These regions face intensifying droughts, heatwaves, fires, and occasional unexpected flood events, as recently observed in the Arabian Peninsula. This session welcomes contributions exploring comprehensive strategies focusing on future climate forecasts and innovative practices for both mitigation and adaptation to climatic extremes. Central to the discussion are climate variability and climate change impacts specific to arid environments, emphasizing water-vegetation-climate interactions and their implications for the resilience of ecosystems and society. Participants will delve into the potential and the foreseen impacts of water management practices such as irrigation from rainwater harvesting, groundwater and desalination, land management practices such as agriculture, afforestation and reforestation as well as climate change mitigation practices such as carbon capturing and intensification of renewable energy in arid regions. This session underscores the critical role of drought monitoring systems, weather forecasts and climate projections in supporting the aforementioned practices as well as in predicting and preparing for extreme events that could jeopardize them, informing proactive risk reduction policies. Case studies from global regions facing similar challenges will illustrate successful applications of these strategies, sharing lessons learned and best practices for effective adaptation and resilience-building.