Water Poverty in Sub-Saharan African nation: GIS based index for assessing vulnerability in relation to climate change data

Abstract

Access to safe water is currently a privilege for the citizens of many developing countries in Asia and Africa. In the last few decades changes in climate have increased concentrations of greenhouse gasses. The results of global warming have had a significant impact upon the hydrological cycle from freshwater resources to rising sea levels, flooding and precipitation changes. Population concentration and growth have also placed additional pressures on water resources resulting in changes to economic development and lifestyle which in turn place further increased demands on freshwater supplies. The sustainability of water for future generations requires a change in the way we manage the water resources in order to tackle these problems efficiently. Composite indicators have two main roles in this task. As well as being efficient monitoring tools for capturing socio-economic and environmental data, they also assist in informing public policy and decision making. For complex issues such as water management they provide a clear, informative guide, simplifying and thus increasing the chances of public policy implementation however further problems remain. Whilst Governances are a key factor for tackling these problems they are also limited by political boundaries. These boundaries do not exist in the physical world creating an urgent need for global cooperative management through integrative geographical models.