WSC - Category 1:Water Sustainability and Climate in the Great Lakes Region of East Africa

WSC - 第 1 类：东非大湖地区的水可持续性和气候

• 批准号: 1039009
• 负责人: Tom Johnson
• 金额: $ 13.68万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota Duluth
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-10-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1039009&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: WSC; Category; Water; Sustainability; Climate

The great lakes region of tropical East Africa has been a magnet for human occupation and settlement since the evolution of our species because of conditions favorable to agriculture, an abundance of fish, an apparent surplus of fresh water, relatively tolerable climatic conditions, and an aesthetically pleasing landscape. However the region remains among the most underdeveloped in the world despite these natural advantages and despite the presence of 25% of the world's surface water resources in its great lakes. Human population growth in the region averages 3% per year and is substantially higher near lakeshores, fish populations are plummeting in response to over fishing and environmental stress, lake levels and outflows to Africa's three largest rivers shift dramatically from year to year as a result of a near-but-teetering balance between fresh water input and evaporative loss, ground water supply and quality are deteriorating, soil erosion is depleting soil fertility, and other aspects of environmental degradation, resulting from high dependence on direct utilization of natural resources, are threatening the lake ecosystems, local water supplies, agricultural productivity, and human welfare. Investigators will meet as a team during the coming year to develop an interdisciplinary research plan for water sustainability and climate in the Lake Malawi basin, which on the one hand typifies much of the great lakes region of tropical East Africa, but on the other lies precariously close to the southern Africa rainfall regime, which is predicted to become more arid with future climate change. The team will develop a set of hypotheses in the context of theoretical frameworks that encompass over-arching issues of forcing, response, and feedbacks in the areas of climate, water, and human activity. They plan two meetings: the first in Minnesota where they will address key questions and identify additional information and data that need to be collected in time for a second meeting to be held 3-4 months later in Malawi to formulate a proposal for a WSC Category II project in the following year. While this project will focus on the Malawi basin, the results will be applicable to most of tropical East Africa, where the conditions of climate and society are quite similar. While this planning phase of their research plan does not involve students, their goal is to succeed in developing a funded, five-year research program that will involve American students working with them and their Malawi colleagues in East Africa, as well as creating opportunities for African faculty and students to be involved with all aspects of the research. This will contribute to capacity building in the African scientific community.

自人类进化以来，热带东非的五大湖地区一直是吸引人类居住和定居的磁石，因为这里的条件有利于农业，鱼类丰富，淡水明显过剩，气候条件相对适宜，风景优美。然而，尽管有这些自然优势，尽管五大湖拥有世界地表水资源的25%，该区域仍然是世界上最不发达的地区之一。 该地区人口平均每年增长3%，湖岸附近的人口增长率更高，鱼类种群因过度捕捞和环境压力而减少，由于淡水输入和蒸发损失之间接近但摇摇欲坠的平衡，湖泊水位和流入非洲三大河流的水量每年急剧变化，地下水供应和质量正在恶化，由于高度依赖直接利用自然资源，土壤侵蚀正在耗尽土壤肥力，环境退化的其他方面正在威胁湖泊生态系统、当地水供应、农业生产力和人类福祉。 调查人员将在未来一年内作为一个团队开会，制定马拉维湖流域水资源可持续性和气候的跨学科研究计划，该流域一方面代表了东非热带五大湖地区的大部分地区，但另一方面却与南部非洲降雨状况非常接近，预计随着未来的气候变化，南部非洲降雨状况将变得更加干旱。该团队将在理论框架的背景下开发一套假设，这些理论框架包括气候，水和人类活动领域的强迫，响应和反馈的过度问题。他们计划了两次会议：第一次会议在明尼苏达州举行，他们将讨论关键问题，并确定需要及时收集的额外信息和数据，以便3-4个月后在马拉维举行第二次会议，为下一年的WSC II类项目制定提案。虽然该项目将侧重于马拉维盆地，但其结果将适用于气候和社会条件非常相似的东非热带大部分地区。虽然他们的研究计划的这个规划阶段不涉及学生，但他们的目标是成功地开发一个资助的五年研究计划，该计划将涉及与他们和他们在东非的马拉维同事一起工作的美国学生，以及为非洲教师和学生创造机会参与研究的各个方面。 这将有助于非洲科学界的能力建设。