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.

自从我们物种发展以来，热带东非的大湖区一直是人类占领和定居点的磁铁，因为有利于农业的条件，丰富的鱼类，淡水的明显盈余，相对宽容的气候条件以及美观的愉悦景观。然而，尽管有这些自然的优势，但该地区仍然是世界上最不发达的地区之一，尽管世界上有25％的地表水资源在其大湖区中。 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由于对自然资源的直接利用而产生的环境降解正在威胁到湖泊生态系统，当地供水，农业生产力和人类福利。 调查人员将在来年举行团队会议，以制定马拉维湖盆地水可持续性和气候的跨学科研究计划，一方面，这代表了热带东非的大湖区大部分地区，而另一方面则稳固地在南部非洲降雨方面，这预计将在未来的气候变化中浮出水面。该团队将在理论框架的背景下制定一组假设，这些框架涵盖了气候，水和人类活动领域中强迫，反应和反馈的问题。他们计划了两次会议：明尼苏达州的第一次会议将解决关键问题，并确定需要及时收集的其他信息和数据，以便在3-4个月后在马拉维举行第二次会议，以在次年为WSC类别II项目提出建议。尽管该项目将重点放在马拉维盆地上，但结果将适用于大多数热带东非的地方，那里的气候和社会条件非常相似。尽管他们的研究计划的计划阶段不涉及学生，但他们的目标是成功制定一项资助的五年研究计划，该计划将涉及与他们及其在东非的马拉维同事一起工作的美国学生，并为非洲教职员工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。