Climate change became a reality. Their impacts are rampant in many parts of the world: hurricanes, persistent droughts and rising sea levels hit many people throughout the world.
In order to investigate these disturbances, many indicators of climate change have been developed by the National Observatory on the Effects of Global Warming French (ONERC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) … and presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). An indicator represents the state of certain environmental conditions over a given area and a specified period of time. Indicators increase our understanding of the causes and effects of climate change. Environmental indicators are a key tool for evaluating existing and future programs and providing sound science for decision-making.
Morocco is not an exception to climate change; observations have shown that all regions of the Kingdom will be affected one way or another by these changes, which will increase their vulnerability and affect the two sectors country’s most important as water and agriculture. Among these regions, we chose one of Marrakesh Tensift Al Haouz because of her geographical position and limited water resources.
So as to betray climate change in this region, a list of these indicators has been established. Between these indicators, we picked up to work on increasing the average temperature of air by the calculation of four climate indices. To do this, we relied on the maximum and minimum temperatures of the two stations study Marrakech and Essaouira using the outputs of Statistical DownScaling Model (SDSM). Subsequently, we integrated the projections of future climate of the region, given by the same model, in a Geographic Information System (GIS).
The results of this study show an upward trend in temperatures combined with reduced rainfall, these developments are likely to increase pressure on water resources and consequently will affect agriculture and food security in the region.
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This post was written by Niama Boukachaba (Cadi Ayyad University- Marrakesh-Morocco). Contact her at niama.boukachaba@edu.uca.ma for more information.
