The next Panel presentation is titled “Water Resources Planning and Design Under a Changing Climate” and will be given by Dr Seth Westra, UNSW. It will be given on the 26th October 2010, 5:30 for a 6pm start at the EA Auditorium, Chatswood. The full abstract is available on the flier but as a teaser:
Water supply systems, flood protection works and a range of other climate-sensitive infrastructure traditionally have been designed based on the assumption that the future climate will mirror what has occurred in the past. Although this assumption has been questioned due to the natural fluctuations of climate, such variability usually can be accommodated by using long instrumental records or information from paleo-climate sources. In contrast, human-induced climate change is expected to push a range of hydrological variables well outside the envelope of what has occurred in the past, leading some researchers to proclaim this assumption that underpins so much of hydrological design is now ‘dead’.
