Modelling impacts of climate change on water resources in the Volta Basin, West Africa [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Raymond Abudu Kasei

Modelling impacts of climate change on water resources in the Volta Basin, West Africa Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades (Dr. rer. nat) der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn vorgelegt von RAYMOND ABUDU KASEI aus TAMALE; GHANA Bonn 2009 1. Referent: Prof. Dr. Bernd Diekkrüger 2. Referent: Prof. Dr. Paul Vlek Tag der Promotion: 11.12.2009 Erscheinungsjahr: 2010 Diese Dissertation ist auf dem Hochschulschriftenserver der ULB Bonn http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de/diss_online elektronisch publiziert ABSTRACT The Volta River Basin is one of the largest river systems in Africa covering an area of 2approximately 400,000 km and shared by six riparian states of West Africa. The semi-arid to sub-humid regions of the basin are climate sensitive. The population is mainly dependent on rainfed agriculture and therefore highly vulnerable to the spatial and temporal variability to rainfall and climate change. Even though the per capita water availability of the basin may be perceived as normal, deforestation, land degradation, and high population growth rate coupled with global climate change promises to exacerbate the growing scarcity on water resources due to climate change, as water supplies are unreliable and insufficient to meet the water demands of the growing population.