Assessment of Impact and Adaptation to Climate Change in Multiple Sectors and Multiple Regions (AIACC): Regional Study AS07 - Southeast Asia Regional Vulnerability to Changing Water Resources and Extreme Hydrological due to Climate Change
Funding source: Global Environment Facility
Project Description : The Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change (AIACC) is a global initiative developed in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programmed (UNEP), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is funded by the Global Environment Facility to advance scientific understanding of climate change vulnerabilities and adaptation options in developing countries. By funding collaborative research, training and technical support, AIACC aims to enhance the scientific capacity of developing countries to assess climate change vulnerabilities and adaptations, and generate and communicate information useful for adaptation planning and action. AIACC is implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme and executed jointly by START and the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). In addition to the funding from the Global Environmental Facility, collateral funding has been provided by the United States Agency for International Development, the Canadian International Development Agency, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the World Bank. Substantial in-kind support has been donated by participating institutions in developing countries.
See also: AIACC
Principal investigator: Assistant Professor Dr.Anond Snidvongs
Partners:
Thailand
Multiple Cropping Center, Chiang Mai University,
Land Development Department, Ministry of Agriculture,
Roi Et Agricultural Resources Service Center, Ministry of Agriculture,
Prachinburi Rice Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture,
Faculty of Agriculture, Ubonratchathani University
Lao PDR
Faculty of Social Science, National University of Laos
National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture
Vietnam
Sub-institute of Hydrometeorology of South Vietnam
Researchers:
Thailand
Attachai Jintrawet, Multiple Cropping Center,Chiang Mai University
Sahaschai Kongton, Land Development Department, Ministry of Agriculture
Vichien Kerdsuk, Research and Development Institute,Khon Kaen University
Vinai Sarawat, Khon Kaen Field Crop Research Center
Sukit Ratanasriwong, Roi Et Agricultural Resources Service Center, Ministry of Agriculture
Chitnucha Buddhaboon, Prachinburi Rice Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture
Boontium Lersupavithnapa, Faculty of Agriculture, Ubonratchathani University
Lao PDR
Thavone Inthavong, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture
Somkhith Boulidam, Faculty of Social Science, National University of Laos
Vietnam
Nguyen Thi Hien Thuan, Sub-institute of Hydrometeorology of South Vietnam
Timeframe: January 2002-September 2006
Status: Completed
The focus of this regional study was to:
1.Assess the different water related aspects or issues in the Mekong River basin under different combinations of climate scenarios and regional land cover schemes.
2.Identify which community, social and economic sectors in the study area will be affected by changing water resources.
3.Identify and evaluate adaptation options for affected sector in each country in the Mekong River Basin.
This project brought together natural and social scientists in Mekong countries to work on vulnerabilities and adaptation of water resources, urbanization and food production sectors to future climate change and climate variabilities .This study used Conformal Cubic Atmospheric Model (CCAM) climate scenarios developed by Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization’s (CSIRO) as the basis for assessing vulnerability of social and economic sectors in Mekong river basin to changing water regimes due to climate and land cover changes. The CCAM is one of the earliest high-resolution long-term climate projections to become available in Thailand and Southeast Asia. The projection had a resolution of 0.1 degrees (approximately 10 km), was developed and applied to hydrologic and crop models to estimate future changes in water availability and extreme climate events, and their impacts on major food crops in the region. Field research at a community level was carried out in Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam to assess current and future coping capacity to climate change.
The research activity under this AIACC regional study, which also coupled with the Capacity Building program under Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), involved number of researchers and research assistants of various disciplines. The workshop, training and hands-on research activities increased their abilities in climate change study to advance scientific understanding of climate change vulnerabilities and adaptation options in developing countries.
In this study, future climate scenarios were developed using the climate model given an increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration from the baseline of 360ppm to 540ppm and 720ppm (in other words, 1.5 and 2 times of baseline). The result from the simulation suggests that average temperature in the region tends to be slightly cooler under climate condition at CO2 concentration of 540ppm but will be slightly warmer than baseline condition under climate condition at CO2 concentration of 720ppm. The range of temperature change was found to be 1-2ºC. The hot period of the year will extend longer and the cool period will be significantly shorter while the length of rainy season would remain the same, but with higher rainfall intensity.
