Water

Abstract

This chapter examines the impacts of climate change on water resources and their effects on women and girls in the Global South. The amount and timing of rainfall are some of the main manifestations of climate change on the earth’s surface, thus affecting the livelihood and well-being of societies. The abundance or scarcity of water affects not only in the form of droughts and floods but also in the availability of basic needs, such as food and shelter as well as health and infrastructure. For instance, higher temperatures and changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are predicted to affect the availability and distribution of precipitation, snowmelt, stream flow, groundwater storage, water quality, and sea levels. These changes will have the greatest impacts on the poorer and more vulnerable societies in the Global South which are not adequately prepared for such changes. The majority of the population living under poverty in the Global South are women, and thus faced with the main brunt of the impacts of water shortage. Countries where greater than 25% of the population have no access to improved sources of drinking water are mainly concentrated in Sub Saharan Africa and semi-arid regions in Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia. Most of these countries also experience high levels of gender inequality.