Relevant Links
Droughts are one of the headline strategic risks to the UK. In 2012 the UK experienced the driest spring in over a century, after two dry winters. Ministers faced the prospect of water shortages during the London Olympics. Whilst the drought conditions in early 2012 served as a wake-up call, the potential for water shortages in the UK, driven by changing patterns of demand and changing climatic conditions, had already been recognised. In the Thames Water region alone it is estimated that severe water rationing could potentially result in economic losses of £300million/day. The capacity for the natural environment to recover from periods of very low flows, deteriorated water quality, dry soils and hot temperatures is not well understood.
Following this experience, the MaRIUS project has received NERC funding to explore how best to manage future droughts. This project – Managing the Risks, Impacts and Uncertainties of drought and water Scarcity (MaRIUS) will introduce a risk-based approach to drought and water scarcity in order to inform management decisions and prepare households. The project is designed to capture the complexity of the water scarcity by using expertise across the social and natural sciences and with key stakeholder involvement.
The MaRIUS researchers and others have recorded a number of video podcasts to help explain the work they are doing, and the aims of the MaRIUS project. The podcasts take the form of voice narrated slides.
You can also enjoy watching presentations from other research projects that were delivered at the 2015 Drought Symposium by other researchers examining drought and its impacts.
We hope you enjoy watching them. Further podcasts are being planned so please come back for more!
| # | Episode Title | Description | People | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Creative Commons | The impact of drought and water scarcity on ecosystems and their ecology | Dr Pam Berry gives a talk on water scarcity, drought and their impact on the environment. | Pam Berry | 23 Jun 2016 |
| 8 | Prof Jim Hall: An Introduction to the MaRIUS project | An Introduction to the MaRIUS project: Managing the Risks, Impacts and Uncertainties of drought and water Scarcity | Jim Hall | 26 Jan 2016 | |
| 7 | Algal Modelling | Dr Gianbattista Bussi talks about some of the water quality research being undertaken in the MaRIUS project, focusing on algal modelling. | Gianbattista Bussi | 02 Feb 2016 | |
| 6 | Sociocultural perceptions and knowledge controversies | Dr Eric Sarmiento talks about the human geography research taking place in the MaRIUS project, which is looking at drought and water scarcity | Eric Sarmiento | 02 Feb 2016 | |
| 5 | Impact of drought on water quality | Professor Paul Whitehead talks about the Impact of drought on water quality | Paul Whitehead | 02 Feb 2016 | |
| 4 | UK Drought governance arrangements | Dr Christina Cook talks about the governance research taking place in the MaRIUS project. | Christina Cook | 29 Jan 2016 | |
| 3 | Designing social learning systems for improving drought monitoring and early warning | DrIVER – Designing social learning systems for improving drought monitoring and early warning | Kevin Collins | 29 Jan 2016 | |
| 2 | Impact of drought and water scarcity on agriculture | Evidence of increasing resilience in the irrigated agricultural sector to water scarcity and drought | Dolores Rey | 29 Jan 2016 | |
| 1 | Western US drought, and the generation of drought datasets for risk-based impact studies | An exploration of the climatic factors influencing drought, with a focus on the current western US drought and the research being undertaken in the MaRIUS project. | Benoit Guillod | 29 Jan 2016 |