Impact of Climate Change on Infrastructure, Population, Settlement, and Adaptation Measures in Vjosa Basin

Abstract

Debate on Climate change and its impacts is becoming an everyday topic in many countries. Most scholars agree that Climate change will have various impacts on ecosystems and consequently on human life. The main impacts will be on the availability, temperature, and quality of water as well as the increase in the frequency of extreme hydrological events like floods, and droughts and accordingly trigger changes in all water-related areas. Thus, one of the major challenges of the 21st century will be the adaptation to these changes in river basins. Several European and UN directives and guidelines are explaining the necessity of adaptation to climate change. Moreover, the EU water framework directive (WFD) requires an integrated river basin management across administrative or political boundaries and demands to consider possible climate change impacts. This paper analyzes the effects that will cause climate change on the population and settlements of the Vjosa River Basin (VRB), one of the most important in Albania. It is not only based on the calculation and analyses of the effects on the number of populations, diseases and health problems, and settlements that are in constant danger from the floods, but also in using ArcGIS pro to visualize and analyze these effects and to propose solutions. Mapping is an important tool that helps the policymakers to identify easily the hotspots and to make the interventions where really needed. These maps can be used as a model to apply in other river basins of Albania, especially the ones potentially vulnerable to climate change.