"'It's not impossible': Western Canada's risk of water shortages rising
Communities where water has been plentiful are not immune to water crises as climate changes...
Three years of drought mean Cape Town could become the first major city in the world to run out of water. As the countdown to "Day Zero" continues in South Africa, Canadian scientists are warning that some communities here could face their own water crisis in the not-so-distant future.
Cape Town's Day Zero, when the city says it will be forced to shut off the taps and ration water to its four million citizens, was initially expected to come in April. Water conservation efforts have now pushed the date to late August, but the day the taps run dry is still coming unless the region gets some serious precipitation. ..
It is a stark reality that in a country known for its abundance of fresh water, climate scientists are seeing changes in the ways our water flows. And it's a problem, in terms of providing people with water throughout the year.
Last year there was a record amount of snowfall in the Fortress Mountain region, but Pomeroy says he and his research team were surprised when all that snow wasn't enough to prevent a drought on the southern part of the prairies.
Pomeroy says a warming climate means the mountain snowpack is melting faster and earlier. As a result, the water is moving through river basins more quickly than in the past and leaving them parched by the end of summer..."
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