{"id":1092,"date":"2026-03-28T18:13:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/limpacte-del-canvi-climatic-sobre-els-recursos-hidrics\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T18:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:16:22","slug":"limpacte-del-canvi-climatic-sobre-els-recursos-hidrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/limpacte-del-canvi-climatic-sobre-els-recursos-hidrics\/","title":{"rendered":"The impact of climate change on water resources"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Climate projections are remarkably consistent in one key aspect: they all foresee a substantial rise in global temperatures, albeit with differences between regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trend in the western Mediterranean<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sustained increase in temperature has been evident for years. According to the June 2025 bulletin<\/a> of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the average temperature that month in Western Europe was 2.81 \u00b0C higher than the 1991\u20132020 reference period, making it the warmest June on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, the Catalan Weather Service published in June 2025 its Study Note 76<\/em>: \u201cAnalysis and climatic context of the 2021\u20132024 drought\u201d<\/a>, which concluded that \u201cdrought \u2013 a phenomenon inherent to the Mediterranean climate \u2013 is undergoing transformations that point to the possible aridification of Catalonia. Recent episodes show unusual intensity and frequency, with characteristics typical of megadroughts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming this thermal scenario for the western Mediterranean, the perception of dryness will inevitably increase, even if global rainfall over the long term remains similar to current levels. Greater direct evaporation from surface waters and higher evapotranspiration from vegetation will alter landscapes and shift biomes typical of drier climates further north. In short, we will lose greenery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impact of rising temperatures on water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The global increase in temperature will also have a direct effect on aquatic ecosystems. Warmer water accelerates chemical and biological reactions, producing more pronounced changes in quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One consequence will be longer periods of stratification in lakes and reservoirs, with a higher risk of anoxia in deeper areas and the consequent deterioration of water quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, these new environmental conditions will alter the biodiversity of local ecosystems, favouring species adapted to warmer environments with greater nutrient circulation, to the detriment of those typical of temperate, nutrient-poor systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groundwater as a refuge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, the impact on groundwater is expected to be much lower, or practically negligible. For this reason, groundwater represents a resource of great strategic importance. The AIGUANEIX project therefore proposes the storage of purified water in aquifers, natural reservoirs protected from the effects of global warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magnitude and intensity of current climate change, together with scientific projections for the coming decades, indicate that the conditions of the past no longer exist \u2013 at least for the next few generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that supply infrastructures designed during the 20th century will not be adequate to meet the challenges of the 21st, and that new visions and approaches are urgently needed. The ideas underpinning the AIGUANEIX project can play a key role in this shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is the time to anticipate challenges and continue innovating to make new water supply systems a reality \u2013 systems that offer greater resilience for citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AIGUANEIX project proposes the storage of purified water in aquifers, reservoirs protected from the effects of global warming<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Climate projections are remarkably consistent in one key aspect: they all foresee a substantial rise in global temperatures, albeit with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1093,"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092\/revisions\/1093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiguaneix.cacbgi.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}