Funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the University of California San Diego and the University of Cambridge have developed a partnership relating to the science, technology, and policy of environment and sustainability.  The partnership’s first project, the Cambridge-UC San Diego Global Water Initiative, is intended to help promote adaptation to the impacts of climate change on water availability.

Changes in water availability are among the most urgent to understand on a regional basis. Africa and Asia in particular are areas where the combination of greenhouse warming and aerosol pollution will profoundly change the availability of water for upwards of one-sixth of the world’s population.

These considerations shape two workshops undertaken by the Global Water Initiative. UCSD hosted an international workshop on May 4-6, 2009, devoted to changes in water availability from mountain snows and glaciers in California and Himalayan Asia.  Cambridge is hosting a workshop on September 21-23, 2009, devoted to changing water availability in Africa.  The workshops will identify the scientific understanding, technological readiness, and decision support capacity needed to promote adaptation.