Maarten Krol – författare

Environmental change in general, and climatic change in particular, are likely to impact significantly upon resources such as water and soils, transforming present day landscapes and their ecological characteristics. As a consequence, disruptions of socio-economic activities in sensitive regions of the globe can be expected in coming decades. Agriculture is at particular risk, especially in areas where prolonged droughts, sea level rise, enhanced natural hazards, or extreme meteorological events such as floods or mudslides threaten marginal existence. Disruptions and risks may have large effects on population migration. Conversely, large-scale movements of people, goods or capital may also disrupt local environments and further contribute to social problems.

This volume provides an ample overview of state-of-the-art understanding of the multi-dimensional phenomenon of migration, in the characterisation of migration drivers, in environmental and agro-economic case studies and modelling issues as well as socio-political analyses.

Global climatic change will most likely affect natural resources and human living conditions in semiarid regions. This volume presents disciplinary as well as integrative methods to assess these impacts considering the interactions between climate variability and change, water availability, land-use systems, and quality of life. Taking the semiarid northeastern area of Brazil as an example, a wide range of expertise and knowledge (from integrated water analyses to transregional migration) is necessary to understand the complex relationship between natural and socio-economic systems. Tools to integrate this knowledge and make it available for the strategic planning of sustainable development are described. This book is a summary of the main research results and the presentations given at the final conference of the WAVES Program on June 25-26 2001 in Fortaleza (Brazil).

From the reviews:

"This book focuses on results from a joint German-Brazilian program (Water Availability and Vulnerability of Ecosystems and Society, or WAVES) to assess the socioeconomic impacts that global change will have on northeast Brazil. This book, divided into eight parts, describes the many factors that should be included in developing scenarios for future planning purposes. The book provides useful information concerning the complex multidisciplinary task of developing scenarios that can aid decision makers in formulating plans for sustainable development in an area that is highly vulnerable to climate variability and change. For someone who is unfamiliar with the semiarid northeast Brazil region, the book provides considerable useful background information." (Vernon E. Kousky, BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEORLOGICAL SOCIETY, December 2004)