ABSTRACT
While climate change may not seem to be a direct focus of biotechnology, its impact on surface water, drinking water, and groundwater quality is already becoming of significance to the field. Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns have an adverse effect on water quality, with higher air temperatures, earlier snowmelt, and decreases in precipitation contributing to widespread drought and an increase in the frequency of floods. If sea levels continue to rise, the salinity of coastal rivers and bays will also increase, causing saltwater intrusion into fresh groundwater resources. Biotechnology uses a broad array of tools that are applied to a wide spectrum of purposes, including health care and pharmaceuticals, food production, and other agriculture. Biotechnology can also play a role in addressing the water quality and water scarcity issues that could arise
with global climate change, such as with drought-resistant plants, pathogen detection, bioremediation and biotreatment of wastewater, surface and coastal waters, and aquifers. David Feldman takes a step back from the particulars of the possible scientific solutions to consider freshwater from the broader perspective of adaptation.
