World Water Resources at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century (International Hydrology Series)

This volume provides a modern assessment of the state of the world's water resources. It collects in one place a huge amount of data. A uniform methodological approach for each continent is then built upon to analyse the dynamics of water resources, water use and water availability for the Earth as a whole, and for all natural-economic regions and selected countries, as well as river water inflow to the World Ocean. A dependence of water resources and water use upon climate factors and socio-economic conditions is demonstrated. Regions of water stress and deficit are highlighted, and a great increase of such regions in the future is forecast if present trends towards water use remain. The effect of anthropogenic climate change on water resources and water needs is also considered. This volume will prove to be an invaluable resource for all researchers and policy-makers involved in water resource issues.

I.A. Shiklomanov is Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources at the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and Director of the State Hydrological Institute. His research centres on problems of hydrological computations, water resources and water balance; problems of water management, water use and water availability on regional and global scales, effects of human activity and anthropogenic climate change on hydrology and water resources. He is the author of more than 200 publications and eight monographs. He has sat on the editorial boards of numerous journals in water resources and environmental research. He has been a contributor to numerous scientific water projects in the territories of Russia, former USSR and on the global scale, including international scientific cooperation within the framework of UNESCO, WMO and IAHS. In 2001 Professor Shiklomanov was awarded the International Prize of UNESCO, WMO and IAHS for outstanding achievements in hydrology and international cooperation.