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Altaf Arain, School of Geography & Earth Sciences recently received $500,000 from Global Water Futures to investigate how forest ecosystems in southeastern Canada function and respond to climate change and extreme weather conditions such as droughts. Arain, who is also the Director of the McMaster Centre for Climate Change, explains that extensive land use changes, agricultural activities and forest harvesting in the Great Lakes region are putting pressure on water resources. More frequent extreme weather events and climate change will add to this pressure.

The project will help guide municipalities and conservation authorities in developing watershed management strategies to account the effects of shifts in land use and climate change. The work will also help improve how Canadian models forecast the effects of climate.

Global Water Futures, the largest university-led water research program in the world, aims to make Canada a global leader in water science for the world’s cold regions. It is funded in part by a $77.8 million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, and is dedicated to finding solutions to risks posed by the effects of climate change.