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VATICAN CITY 2006

THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Statement onWater and the Environment

issued by the work ing group

of the Ponti fi cal Academy of Sciences

Dichiarazione su

Acqua e ambienteapprovata dalla Pontifi cia Accademie delle Scienze

a conclusione del gruppo di l avoro

12-14 November 2005

Casina Pio IV

Statement p. Dichiarazione p.

Programme p. List of Participants p. Participant Biographies p. 151310

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As you can imagine, we will not go into the technical ques-tion, or into the possibilities of its application, whichwould probably still be premature. But we know that it isa question of a kind of important metabolism, which it isin the interest of mankind to discern, since the shortage ofreserves of fresh water threatens to hinder its development.Let us just emphasise, in the more general field of scientif-ic research, two attitudes which, it seems to us, shouldcharacterise the scientist, and especially the scientist whois a Christian. On the one hand, he must honestly considerthe question of the earthly future of mankind and, as a re-

sponsible person, help to prepare it, preserve it, and elimi-nate risks; we think that this solidarity with future genera-tions is a form of charity to which a great many men aresensitive today, in the framework of ecology. But at thesame time, the scientist must be animated by the confi-dence that nature has in store secret possibilities which itis up to intelligence to discover and make use of, in orderto reach the development which is in the Creators plan.

This hope in the Author of nature and of the human spirit,rightly understood, is capable of giving new and serene en-ergy to the researcher who is a believer.

Paul VI , Address of 19 April 1975 to the partici pant s of thestudy week onBiological and Artificial Membranes and De-salination of Water, in Papal Add resses, The PontificalAcademy of Sciences, Scripta Varia 100, Vatican City 2003,p. 208 f.

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Statement on

Water and the Environment

Dichiarazione su

Acqua e ambiente

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Ascientific workshop on Water and theEnvironment was held at the PontificalAcademy of Sciences on 12-14 Novem-ber 2005. Underlying the programme of the

workshop was the basic premise that the sur-vival of humanity and all species on earth de-pend upon the fate of water. Where water is ab-sent, life is absent. The common symbol of lifefor mankind and all species, valued and respect-ed in all religions and cultures, today water issymbolic of social equity.

There are two facets to the question of Wa-ter and the Environment. The first belongsstrictly to the natural sciences and centres onthe understanding of the hydrologic cycle andits interactions with the living and non-living

components of the earth and its atmosphere.The second facet pertains more to the social sci-ences and focuses on the fair distribution of wa-ter, considering both quality and quantity as-pects, as well as the impact of these issues inthe economical and spiritual growth of peoplearound the world. These two facets are inextri-cably linked, with scientific knowledge provid-ing a basis for well-informed decisions expect-ed from the policymakers involved, decisionsthat will affect all humanity over many genera-

tions to come.The main emphasis of the workshop was onthe first of the above-mentioned facets. It dealtin particular with up-to-date scientific researchbearing on the impact of hydrologic dynamicson issues concerning sustainable development,in which water resources are of paramount im-portance. Contamination, ill-planned industrialdevelopment, mega cities, are just a few ofmany threats to these vital resources. Somehope of success in countering these threats isprovided by concepts such as the so-called In-

tegrated Resources Management a (manage-

ment) process which promotes the coordinateddevelopment and management of water, landand related resources, in order to maximize theresultant economic and social welfare in an eq-uitable manner without compromising the sus-tainability of vital ecosystems (Global WaterPartnership, TAC Background Paper, No. 4).

Such coordinated development and con-comitant decision-making needs firm scientif-ic underpinning, in which the science of Hy-drology with its intimate links with Ecologyand with its geophysical sister sciences, Geo-morphology, Geology, Climatology and Meteo-rology has a key role to play. In the words ofHedin et al. (Report to t he U.S. Natio nal Sci-ence Foundat ion, 2002), this disciplinary con-

vergence will over the next several decadestransform our understanding of basic process-es that control the stability and sustainabilityof natural environmental systems. The ensu-ing findings will have extraordinary implica-tions for our abilities to predict and managehow humans impact the health of ecosystemsacross local, regional, and global scales. Suchknowledge is a critical component of a safe,sustainable and prosperous future.

The workshop was organized around recentadvances in research in five main areas Bio-diversity, Global Hydrology, Climate Change,Land-Atmosphere Interactions, and RiverBasins with hydrologic dynamics providingthe unifying theme to the discussions. Particu-lar emphasis was placed on the investigation offeedbacks and interactions between the five ar-eas, with the goal of identifying some of themain scientific challenges that need to be facedin the immediate future.

The presentations and discussions of thedifferent topics took place in the Casina Pio IV

in an environment which could be described

Statement

WaterandtheEnvironment

This Statement on Water and the Environment was produced by the workshop on the same subject of12-14 November 2005 which was held at Casina Pio IV. On the basis of a text by Prof. Rodrguez

Iturbe with the coll aboration of Prof. H ide, and in response to proposals made by President Prof. Cabib-

bo, Prof. Chahine, Prof. Crutzen, Prof. Gatto, Prof. Lna, Prof. Ramanathan, and the Bishop-Chancel-

lor Snchez, this document was formally approved by the Pontifi cal A cademy of Sciences.

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Water and the Environment Statement

by the eloquent words of Paul VI characteriz-ing the attitude of a scientist: On the onehand, he must honestly consider the questionof the earthly future of mankind and, as a re-sponsible person, help to prepare it, preserveit, and eliminate risks; we think that this soli-darity with future generations is a form ofcharity to which a great many men are sensi-tive today, in the framework of ecology. But atthe same time, the scientist must be animatedby the confidence that nature has in store se-cret possibilities which it is up to intelligenceto discover and make use of, in order to reachthe development which is in the Creators plan.

This hope in the Author of nature and the hu-man spirit, rightly understood, is capable of

giving new and serene energy to the researcherwho is a believer (Paul VI, Papal Addr esses,

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, ScriptaVaria 100, Vatican City 2003, p. 208 f.).

In order to keep the overall perspective anddeal with the range of implications of the sci-entific topics, the workshop was opened andclosed with two presentations providing a linkbetween the science aspects and the social im-pacts of the themes under study. These presen-tations were entitled The Fai r Di st r ibut i on of

Waterand H eadin g Tow ards Basin-level H y-drosolidar it y: Goal for Lan d/Water/EcosystemCoordination. Thus the workshop opened witha strong message that access to sufficient andhealthy water is a human right which has tobe taken into consideration by governmentswithout discriminations of any kind. It is es-sential to consider the fair distribution of wa-ter when applying concepts like sustainabledevelopment, globalization and food securi-ty. All these need to be discussed consideringthe challenges and obstacles of geographical,

social, cultural and political character that im-pact any effort towards a world-wide fair dis-tribution of water. The workshop then endedwith the discussion of a road map towards hy-drosolidarity framed on the scale of the multi-ple uses by different geographical regions ofthe water resources of a river basin. It involvesa plea that it is an ethically demanding dutyfor the scientific community to prepare wiselyfor the water related challenges involved in theMillennium Development Goals over the next

half century. Thus it will be crucial to developa scientifically sound and ethic-based vision,

that will stimulate new optimism and involvepeople in striving towards hydrosolidarity-based balances of interests and activities inriver basins.

The five general themes of the workshoppresented a challenging perspective of the sci-entific aspects of some of the most crucial ar-eas related to water and the environment. Thus,in Biodiversity and Hydrologic Dynamics, theextremely important role of water was madeclear in the preservation of biodiversity and inthe temporal and spatial patterns that biodiver-sity exhibits. The main causes of acceleratingextinction rates are habitat destruction anddegradation, the introduction of exotic species,pollution, overexploitation and global climate

change. In all key aspects of biodiversity, hydro-logic dynamics play a crucial role and it wasclearly shown that natural or human-causedfluctuations of the water cycle are fundamentaldrivers of the vegetation dynamics. The differ-ent characteristics of the interaction betweenvegetation and climate were discussed in-depthfor both savannah and river basin ecosystems.In the case of savannas, the dynamic grass cov-er enhances the degree to which the savannahvegetation is optimal with respect to its use of

the stochastic water input. In the case of riverbasins the deep coherence was made apparentbetween the geomorphological organization ofthe watershed and the vegetation patterns thatexist around the river network.

In the session on Global Hydrology andHydrologic Dynamics, special emphasis wasmade on the fact that impacts of climatechange will be felt most strongly throughchanges in surface hydrology (e.g., changes inthe frequencies of floods and droughts), whichaffect ecosystems and agriculture, as well as

the water available for direct human use. Thekey drivers of contemporary changes in riverflow (land use change, climate change, solardimming and direct CO2 effects) were assessedby comparing model simulations to continen-tal-scale runoff records. These comparisonssuggest that direct CO2 effects can already bedetected, with important consequences for wa-ter availability in the 21st century. Our abilityto meet the water resources requirements ofthis century demands a coordinated scientific

agenda at the international level and a reviewwas provided of the progress towards address-

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Water and the Environment Statement

ing the above requirements for an integratedwater resources management system.

The topic discussed above continued withthe study of Climate Change and HydrologicDynamics where it was pointed out that anthro-pogenic climate change is expected to affect thehydrologic cycle in many ways and it is not un-likely that changes in precipitation will be moreserious than those in temperature. Of particu-lar concern are long-term changes in precipita-tion stretching over multiple years. Worldwidechanges in evaporative demand are also of fun-damental importance in this topic and receivedextensive discussion especially in what con-cerns the apparent paradox between globalwarming and decreased evaporative demand.

Aerosols are another important factor impact-ing the hydrologic cycle since they change cloudcharacteristics in many ways. Human emis-sions of aerosols cause a reduction of solar ra-diation at the surface (e.g., solar dimming). Thishas important consequences for the surface en-ergy budget and for the hydrologic cycle.

Land-Atmosphere Interactions are a keycomponent of the intimate interdependence be-tween water and the environment. A particular-ly important region for this mutual feedback is

the Amazon River basin which contains thelargest, contiguous extent of tropical forest onearth. Over the past 30 years almost 600,000km2 have been deforested in Brazil alone due tothe rapid development of Amazonia. There areobservational evidences of regional changes inthe surface energy budget, cloudiness and low-er troposphere radiative transfer due to bio-mass burning aerosol loadings. Observationalevidence of changes in the hydrologic cycle in-cludes reductions of streamflow and modellingstudies of large scale deforestation indicate a

likely drier and warmer post-deforestation cli-mate. Precipitation suppression by anthro-pogenic air pollution is likely to lead to a majorloss of water resources where we need themmost. The study of the physical mechanisms re-sponsible for suppressing the precipitationforming processes provides the scientific basisfor corrective actions that were discussed. Theneed to quantify the linkage between plant hy-draulics and leaf biochemistry was also shownfor understanding how biosphere-atmosphere

exchange of water and carbon occurs undercurrent and projected climate conditions.

River Basins play a fundamental role in allaspects of water and the environment and theyconstitute complex adaptive systems where theaction of water is central to the dynamic originof their scaling characteristics. They also con-stitute fascinating laboratories for the study ofhow nature works across a wide range of scales.Of particular importance is the discussion ofthe dynamic origin of their scale-invariantforms which lies at the core of the organizationand evolution of river networks and their asso-ciated ecosystems. How does biology affectlandscape form and evolution? How do bioticprocesses influence weathering, erosion, and

sediment transport mechanisms, and how suchinfluences could be manifest in landscape-scalemorphology? Is there a topographic signatureof life? These questions are intimately linked tothe basic premise of the workshop underlyingall presentations: the survival of humanity andlife depends on the fate of water. The preserva-tion of earth as a planet that nurtures life cru-cially depends on the understanding of the hy-drologic cycle and its interactions with the liv-ing and non-living components of the earth and

its atmosphere.All the above topics need measurementsfrom space which have provided informationon the water cycle with unprecedented accura-cy. This new information provided by satelliteshows that when comparing Mars, Venus andEarth, which are all of the same geological age,only Earth has liquid water whose dynamics iscontrolled by the hydrologic cycle. If we do notconserve the equilibrium of this cycle the sin-gularity of Earth and the life it sustains are verymuch at risk and the Earth could become like

other planets. Furthermore, given the globalcharacter of the processes involved any effec-tive action will benefit immensely if it isplanned under an international framework.

The workshop provided a truly unique op-portunity for leading scientists of different dis-ciplines to find a common ground in a problem-atic area that is of fundamental importance formankind. The cross-fertilization and links thattook place in a climate of free scientific discus-sion are bound to have a lasting impact.

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Dal 12 al 14 novembre 2005 presso la Ponti-ficia Accademia delle Scienze si tenutoun seminario scientifico dal titolo Acquae ambiente. Il programma del seminario ha pre-so le mosse dalla premessa fondamentale secon-do cui la sopravvivenza dellumanit e di tutte lespecie sulla terra dipende dal destino dellacqua.Dove non c acqua, non c vita. Simbolo di vitaper lumanit e per tutte le specie, apprezzata eonorata in tutte le religioni e le culture, oggi lac-qua simbolo di equit sociale.

Sono due gli aspetti legati alla interrelazionetra Acqua e ambiente. Il primo appartiene stret-tamente alle scienze naturali ed incentrato sullacomprensione del ciclo idrologico e sulle sue in-terazioni con i componenti viventi e non-viventidella terra e dellatmosfera. Il secondo aspetto per-tiene pi specificamente alle scienze sociali ed focalizzato sulla equa distribuzione di acqua, sianei suoi aspetti qualitativi che quantitativi, comeanche sullimpatto che tali questioni hanno in tut-to il mondo sulla crescita economica e spiritualedelle persone. Questi due fattori sono inestricabil-mente collegati, e in tale contesto le conoscenzescientifiche forniscono una base per decisioni beninformate che i responsabili della politica dovran-no prendere, decisioni che influiranno su tutta lu-manit per molte generazioni a venire.

Laccento principale del seminario stato po-sto sul primo degli aspetti summenzionati. In par-ticolare il seminario si occupato delle pi recen-ti ricerche scientifiche che hanno relazione conlimpatto delle dinamiche idrologiche su questio-ni concernenti lo sviluppo sostenibile, in cui le ri-sorse idriche sono di fondamentale importanza.La contaminazione, lo sviluppo industriale malprogrammato, le megalopoli, sono solo alcunedelle molte minacce che mettono in pericolo que-ste risorse vitali. Qualche speranza nel contrastar-le viene da concetti quali la cosiddetta Gestionedelle Risorse Integrate un processo (gestionale)che promuove lo sviluppo coordinato e la gestio-ne dellacqua, della terra e delle risorse collegate,

al fine di massimizzare il benessere economico esociale che ne deriva in un modo equo e senzacompromettere la sostenibilit degli ecosistemi vi-tali (Global Water Partnership, TAC Backgroun dPaper, No. 4).

Tale sviluppo coordinato, e la concomitantecapacit decisionale, necessita di un solido soste-gno scientifico, in cui lIdrologia per i suoi stret-ti legami con lEcologia e con le sue scienze geofi-siche consorelle, Geomorfologia, Geologia, Ocea-nografia, Climatologia e Meteorologia riveste unruolo chiave. Nelle parole di Hedin et al. (Reportto the U.S. Nation al Science Foundation, 2002),questa convergenza di discipline nel corso deiprossimi decenni trasformer la nostra compren-sione dei processi di base che regolano la stabilite la sostenibilit dei sistemi ambientali naturali.

Le scoperte che seguiranno avranno straordina-rie implicazioni sulle nostre capacit di predire egestire le modalit in cui gli esseri umani influi-scono sullo stato di salute degli ecosistemi su sca-la locale, regionale e globale. Tale sapere uncomponente cruciale di un futuro sicuro, prospe-ro e sostenibile.

Il seminario stato organizzato intorno ai re-centi progressi compiuti dalla ricerca in cinquearee principali Biodiversit, Idrologia Globale,Cambiamento Climatico, Interazione Terra-At-mosfera, e Bacini Fluviali con la dinamica idro-

logica come tema unificante dei dibattiti. Partico-lare enfasi stata posta sullanalisi approfonditadei feedback e delle interazioni tra le cinque aree,al fine di identificare alcune delle principali sfidescientifiche che dovranno essere affrontate nel-limmediato futuro.

Le relazioni e i dibattiti sui diversi temi han-no avuto luogo presso la Casina Pio IV in un cli-ma che potrebbe essere descritto attraverso le elo-quenti parole di Paolo VI utilizzate per definirelatteggiamento di uno scienziato: Da un lato, eglideve lealmente interrogarsi sullavvenire terrestre

dellumanit e da uomo responsabile concor-rere a prepararlo, a preservarlo, a eliminare i ri-

Dichiarazione


Questa Dichiarazione su Acqua e ambiente stata proposta a conclusione del gruppo di lavoro tenuto-si presso la Casina Pio IV dal 12 al 14 novembre 2005. Tale Dichiarazione stata ufficialmente appro-

vata dalla Pontifi cia Accademia delle Scienze sul la base di un testo redatto dal Professor Rodrguez

I turbe in collaborazione con i l Prof. H ide, e in ri sposta ai suggerimenti del Presidente Prof. Cabibbo,

dei Professori Chahine, Crutzen, Gatto, Lna, Ramanathan e del Vescovo-Cancell iere Snchez.

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schi; noi riteniamo che questa solidariet con legenerazioni future sia una forma di carit allaquale molti, del resto, sono oggi sensibili nel qua-dro dellecologia. Ma, allo stesso tempo, lo scien-ziato deve essere animato dalla fiducia che la na-

tura nasconde delle possibilit segrete, che spettaallintelligenza scoprire e mettere in atto, per giun-gere allo sviluppo che nel disegno del Creatore.Questa speranza nellAutore della natura e dellospirito umano rettamente intesa in grado didare al ricercatore credente una energia nuova eserena (Paolo VI, Di scorsi dei Papi, Pontificia Ac-cademia delle Scienze, Scripta Varia 100, Citt delVaticano 2003, p. 208 s.).

Al fine di mantenere la prospettiva generaleed affrontare la vasta gamma di implicazioniconnesse agli argomenti scientifici, il seminario

stato aperto e chiuso da due relazioni che han-no fornito un collegamento tra gli aspetti scienti-fici e limpatto sociale dei temi in studio. Tali re-lazioni erano intitolate Un equa distri buzion e diacquae Andare verso u na id rosoli dari et di baci-no: obi etti vo del coordinamento terra/acqua/ecosi-stema. In questo modo, il seminario si apertocon il forte messaggio che laccesso ad unacquasana e sufficiente un diritto umano che i gover-ni devono prendere in considerazione senza di-scriminazioni di alcun tipo. essenziale tenerconto dellequa distribuzione dellacqua quando

si applicano concetti come sviluppo sostenibile,globalizzazione e sicurezza alimentare. Tuttiquesti temi devono essere discussi tenendo pre-senti le sfide e gli ostacoli di carattere geografico,sociale, culturale e politico che influiscono suqualunque sforzo che miri ad una equa distribu-zione di acqua a livello mondiale. Il seminario si quindi concluso con un dibattito circa una roadmapverso lidrosolidariet, elaborata tenendoconto dei molteplici usi delle risorse idriche di unbacino fluviale da parte di differenti regioni geo-grafiche. Essa comporta un appello, che un do-

vere etico per la comunit scientifica, a preparar-si coscienziosamente per le sfide collegate allac-qua ed inerenti agli Obiettivi di Sviluppo del Mil-lennio nel corso del prossimo mezzo secolo. Dun-que, sar cruciale sviluppare una visione scienti-ficamente solida e basata sulletica, che possa sti-molare un nuovo ottimismo e coinvolgere le per-sone nello sforzo teso al raggiungimento di unequilibrio, fondato sullidrosolidariet, tra inte-ressi e attivit nei bacini fluviali.

I cinque temi generali del seminario hanno of-ferto una prospettiva stimolante circa gli aspetti

scientifici di alcune delle aree pi cruciali colle-

gate allacqua e allambiente. Cos, in Biodiversite Dinamica Idrologica stato chiarito il ruoloestremamente importante dellacqua nella conser-vazione della biodiversit e nei modelli temporalie spaziali che la biodiversit mette in evidenza. Le

principali cause di accelerazione nei tassi di estin-zione sono la distruzione e il degrado dellhabitatnaturale, lintroduzione di specie esotiche, lin-quinamento, leccessivo sfruttamento delle risor-se naturali e il cambiamento del clima terrestre.In tutti gli aspetti chiave della biodiversit, la di-namica idrologica ha un ruolo cruciale ed statochiaramente dimostrato come le fluttuazioni, na-turali o causate dalluomo, del ciclo idrico sonoelementi fondamentali nelle dinamiche della ve-getazione. Le diverse caratteristiche dellintera-zione tra vegetazione e clima sono state ap-

profonditamente discusse sia per lecosistemadella savana che per quello dei bacini fluviali. Nelcaso delle savane, il manto derba dinamico au-menta il grado a cui la vegetazione della savanarisulta ottimale rispetto al suo uso dellimmissio-ne idrica stocastica. Nel caso dei bacini fluviali apparsa evidente la profonda coerenza tra lorga-nizzazione geomorfologica del bacino idrico e leformazioni di vegetazione che si trovano intornoalla rete fluviale.

Nella sessione su Idrologia Globale e Dinami-ca Idrologica, una speciale enfasi stata posta sul

fatto che limpatto del cambiamento climaticosar pi fortemente avvertito nei cambiamentiidrologici di superficie (per esempio, cambiamen-ti nella frequenza di alluvioni e siccit), che influi-scono sugli ecosistemi e sullagricoltura, cos co-me sullacqua disponibile per il diretto uso uma-no. I fattori chiave degli attuali cambiamenti nel-la portata dei fiumi (modifiche nellutilizzo dellaterra, mutamenti climatici, diminuzione dellirra-diazione solare ed effetti del CO2 diretto) sonostati valutati comparando i modelli di simulazio-ne ai dati di deflusso su scala continentale. Que-

sti confronti suggeriscono che gli effetti del CO2diretto possono essere gi rilevati, con importanticonseguenze per la disponibilit di acqua nel cor-so del XXI secolo. La nostra capacit di soddisfa-re il fabbisogno di risorse idriche di questo secolonecessita di unagenda scientifica coordinata a li-vello internazionale, e nel corso del seminario stato fornito un resoconto dei progressi compiutiper rispondere alle summenzionate esigenze diuna gestione integrata delle risorse idriche.

Questo stesso tema stato discusso anche nel-lambito dello studio su Cambiamento Climatico

e Dinamica Idrologica in cui stato evidenziato

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che un cambiamento climatico antropogenico siprevede incida in svariati modi sul ciclo idrologi-co, e non improbabile che le alterazioni nelleprecipitazioni saranno pi serie delle variazionidi temperatura. Fonte di particolare preoccupa-

zione la modificazione a lungo termine delleprecipitazioni, che avr una durata di molteplicianni. Anche i cambiamenti mondiali nella richie-sta evapotraspirativa sono di fondamentale im-portanza in questo contesto e sono stati oggettodi unampia discussione specialmente per quelche concerne lapparente paradosso tra riscalda-mento globale e decremento nella richiesta eva-potraspirativa. Gli aerosol sono un altro fattore ri-levante che influisce sul ciclo idrologico dal mo-mento che modificano in svariati modi le caratte-ristiche delle nubi. Le emissioni umane di aerosol

causano una riduzione nellirradiazione solare al-la superficie. Questo ha importanti conseguenzeper il bilancio energetico di superficie e per il ci-clo idrologico.

Le interazioni terra-atmosfera sono una com-ponente chiave nella stretta interdipendenza traacqua ed ambiente. Una regione di particolare im-portanza per questo doppio feedback il bacinodel Rio delle Amazzoni che contiene la pi vastae contigua estensione di foresta tropicale sulla ter-ra. Negli ultimi 30 anni quasi 600.000 km2 sonostati deforestati nel solo Brasile a seguito del ra-

pido sviluppo dellAmazzonia. In questa regioneci sono prove evidenziali di cambiamenti nel bi-lancio energetico di superficie, nella nuvolosit enel pi basso trasferimento radiativo nella tropo-sfera dovuto a grandi quantit di pulviscolo atmo-sferico causato dalla combustione di biomassa.La prova dei mutamenti nel ciclo idrologico in-clude le riduzioni del flusso fluviale, e studi mo-dellistici di deforestazione su larga scala indicanoun probabile clima post-deforestazione pi caldoed asciutto. La forte riduzione delle precipitazio-ni causata dallinquinamento antropogenico del-

laria porter verosimilmente a pi consistentiperdite di risorse idriche proprio dove ce ne sa-rebbe maggior bisogno. Lo studio dei meccanismifisici responsabili del forte decremento dei pro-cessi di formazione delle precipitazioni forniscela base scientifica per le azioni correttive da intra-prendere e che sono state discusse. stato anchesottolineato il bisogno di quantificare il collega-mento tra lidraulica della pianta e la biochimicadella foglia per capire come, nelle attuali condi-zioni climatiche e in quelle previste, si verifica loscambio biosfera-atmosfera di acqua e carbonio.

I bacini fluviali hanno un ruolo fondamenta-le in tutti gli aspetti concernenti linterdipenden-za tra acqua ed ambiente, ed essi costituisconocomplessi sistemi adattivi in cui lazione dellac-qua risulta centrale per lorigine dinamica delle

loro caratteristiche di scalatura. Essi costituisco-no anche affascinanti laboratori per lo studio dicome la natura opera attraverso una vasta gam-ma di scalature. Di particolare rilievo la discus-sione sullorigine dinamica delle loro forme inva-rianti di scala che al centro dellorganizzazionee dellevoluzione delle reti fluviali e dei loro cor-relati ecosistemi. Come la biologia influisce sullaforma e sullevoluzione del paesaggio? Come iprocessi biotici influenzano lazione degli agentiatmosferici, lerosione, e i meccanismi di traspor-to dei sedimenti, e come tali influssi possono evi-

denziarsi nella morfologia del paesaggio? C unaimpronta topografica della vita? Queste doman-de sono strettamente collegate alla premessa fon-damentale del seminario che stata alla base ditutte le relazioni: la sopravvivenza dellumanit edella vita dipende dal destino dellacqua. La con-servazione della terra come pianeta che nutre lavita dipende in modo cruciale dalla comprensio-ne del ciclo idrologico e dalle sue interazioni coni componenti viventi e non viventi della terra edella sua atmosfera.

Tutti i temi summenzionati necessitano di

misurazioni dallo spazio che hanno fornitoinformazioni sul ciclo idrico con una accuratez-za che non ha precedenti nella storia. Questenuove informazioni fornite dai satelliti mostra-no che quando compariamo Marte, Venere e laTerra, che hanno la stessa et geologica, solo laTerra ha acqua allo stato liquido la cui dinamica controllata dal ciclo idrologico. Se non conser-viamo lequilibrio di tale ciclo leccezionalit del-la Terra e della vita che essa sostiene gravemen-te a rischio e la Terra potrebbe diventare similead altri pianeti. Inoltre, dato il carattere globale

dei processi coinvolti, qualunque valida azionebeneficer immensamente da una pianificazio-ne a carattere internazionale.

Il seminario ha fornito unopportunit real-mente unica per eminenti studiosi in disciplinediverse di trovare un terreno comune in un setto-re problematico e di fondamentale importanzaper lumanit. Libridazione ed i collegamenti te-matici che hanno avuto luogo in un clima di libe-ro dibattito scientifico sono destinati ad avere unimpatto duraturo.

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9:00 General I ntroduction: Prof. M. GOVIND KUMAR MENONThe Ponti fi cal Academy of Sciences, Welcome, and Goals

9:15 Speaker:N Dr. REZA ARDAKANIAN

The Fair D istri but ion of WaterDiscussion

BIODIVERSITY AND HYDROLOGIC DYNAMICS

10:15 Chairperson: Prof. NICOLA CABIBBOSpeaker:N Prof. MARINO GATTO

Thr eatened Bi odiv ersit y: Un derstandi ng, Forecastin g, Taki ng ActionDiscussion

11:15 Coffee Break

11:45 Speaker:N Prof. IGNACIO RODRGUEZ-ITURBE

Hydrologic Flu ctuati ons and Vegetation Dynam icsDiscussion

13:00 Lunch at the Casina Pio IV

GLOBAL HYDROLOGY AND HYDROLOGIC DYNAMICS

14.30 Chairperson: Prof. IGNACIO RODRGUEZ-ITURBESpeaker:N Dr. PETER M. COX

Global H ydrology, Clim ate Change and E cosystemsDiscussion

15.30 Speaker:N Prof. SOROOSH SOROOSHIAN

Water Di stribu ti on and Availabi li ty: An Overview of th e Hydrologic Cycle,it s Conn ection to Climate and I mpact on Water Resources Management Strategies

Discussion

16.30 Coffee BreakCLIMATE CHANGE AND HYDROLOGIC DYNAMICS

17:00 Speaker:N Prof. Dr. LENNART BENGTSSON

Changes in Global Rai nf all and th e H ydrological Cycle:Present and Fu tu re Perspecti ves

Discussion

SATURDAY, 12 NOVEMBER

PROGRAMME

10


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Water and t he Environment Programme

18:00 Speaker:N Prof. GRAHAM FARQUHAR

Worldwi de Changes in Evaporative DemandDiscussion

19:00 Final Discussion

19:30 Dinner at Domus Sanctae Marthae

9:00 Beatification at St. Peters Basilica of the Servants of God: Charles de Foucauld,Maria Pia Mastena, and Maria Crocifissa Curcio

12:30 Social Lunch at the Casina Pio IV15:00 Guided Archaeological Visit to Vatican Necropolis

SUNDAY, 13 NOVEMBER

9:00 Chairperson: Prof. RAYMOND HIDESpeaker:N Prof. ULRIKE LOHMANN

I m pact of Aerosols on the H ydrologic Cycle

Discussion

LAND-ATMOSPHERE INTERACTIONS

10:00 Speaker:N Prof. GABRIEL KATUL

Bri ngin g Photosynt hesis to the Atmosphere:A Feedback on Terr estri al Water Cycli ng

Discussion

11:00 Coffee Break

11:30 Speaker:N Prof. DANIEL ROSENFELD

Precipit ation Suppression by Anth ropogeni c Air Pollu ti on:M ajor Loss of Water Resou rces Where We Need Them M ost

Discussion

12:30 Speaker:N Dr. CARLOS A. NOBRE

Bi osphere-Atm osphere I nt eracti ons in Am azoni aDiscussion

13:30 Lunch at the Casina Pio IV

MONDAY, 14 NOVEMBER

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NAME AND TITLE NAT. DISCIPLINE AND CHARGE PAPER

Dr.Reza Ardakanian IRTeheran

Regional Center on Urban Water Management The Fair Distribut ion of Water

Prof.Dr.LennartBengtsson

DHamburg

Max Planck Institute for Metereology Changes in Global Rainfall and theHydrological Cycle:Present and FuturePerspectives

Dr.Moustafa T.Chahine

USAPasadena

Chief Scientist at NASA-JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory

NASAs Measurements of Water from

Space

Dr.Peter M.Cox UKDorchester

CEH DorsetWinfrith Technology Centre

Global Hydrology, Climate Change and

Ecosystems

Prof.William E.

Dietrich

USABerkeley

University of California,BerkeleyDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science

Is There a Topographic Signature of

Life on Earth?

Prof.MalinFalkenmark

SStockholm

Stockholm Internatioanl Water Institute (SIWI) Heading towards Basin-Level Hydrosol-idarity Goal for Land/Water/Ecosys-tem Coordination

Prof.Graham D.Farquhar

AUSCanberra

Australian National UniversityResearch School of Biological Sciences

Worldwide Changes in Evaporative

Demand

Prof.Marino Gatto IMilan

Polytechnic of MilanDepartment of Electronics and Information

Threatened Biodiversity:Understanding,

Forecasting,Taking Action

Prof.Gabriel G.Katul USADurham

Duke UniversityNicholas School of the Environmentand Earth Sciences

Bringing Photosynthesis to the Atmos-phere:A Feedback on Terrestrial WaterCycling

Prof.Ulrike Lohmann CH

Zrich

Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (ETH)

Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science

Impact of Aerosols on the Hydrologic

Cycle

Dr.Carlos A.Nobre BRCachoeriaPaulista

Centre for Weather Forecasts and Climate Studies Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions in

Amazonia

Prof.Andrea Rinaldo IPadua

Padua UniversityDino Tonini International Hydrology Centre

River Basins:Water and Complex

Adaptive Systems

Prof.Ignacio J.Rodrguez-Iturbe

USAPrinceton

Princeton UniversityDepartment of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering

Hydrologic Fluctuations and Vegetation

Dynamics

Prof.Daniel Rosenfeld ILJerusalem

The Hebrew University of JerusalemInstitute of Earth Sciences Programof Atmospheric Sciences

Precipitation Suppression by Anthro-pogenic Air Pollution: Major Loss ofWater Resources

Prof.SorooshSorooshian

USAIrvine

University of California,Irvine

Department of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering

Water Distribution and Availability:An

Overview of the Hydrologic Cycle

OutsideExperts

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS


NAME AND TITLE NAT. DISCIPLINE AND CHARGE

H.Em.Card.GeraldoMajella Agnelo

BRBrasilia

President of National Bishops Conference of Brazil (C.N.B.B.)

Prof.James Dooge IRLDublin

Former Foreign Minister of Ireland

H.E.Msgr.CatalinoClaudio GimnezMedina

PYAsuncin

President of the Bishops Conference of Paraguay (C.E.P.)Observers

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Water and the Envi ronment List of Participants

NAME AND TITLE NAT. DISCIPLINE AND CHARGE

H.E.Msgr.EstanislaoE.Karlic

RAParan

Former President of the Bishops Conference of Argentinaand Archbishop Emeritus of Paran

H.E.Msgr.Eduardo

Vicente Miras

RABuenosAires

President of the Bishops Conference of Argentina (C.E.A.)

Prof.Viliam Novk SKBratislava

Slovak Academy of Sciences,Institute of Hydrology

Prof.Mary Power USABerkeley

University of California,Berkeley

Msgr.James Reinert VVaticanCity

Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

Prof.Lucio Ubertini IRome

La Sapienza University of Rome

Prof.Howard S.Wheater

UKLondon

Imperial College,Faculty of Engineering

Observers

NAME AND TITLE NAT. DISCIPLINE AND CHARGE PAPER

Prof.Nicola Cabibbo IRome

Professor of PhysicsLa Sapienza University of RomePresident of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

Welcome Address

H.E.Msgr.MarceloSnchez Sorondo

VVaticanCity

Professor of the History of PhilosophyLUMSA University of RomeChancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciencesand the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

Presentat ion of the Activity

of the Pontifical Academies

Prof.Paul J.Crutzen DMainz

Max Planck Institute for ChemistryDepartment of Atmospheric ChemistryMember of the Council of the PAS

Prof.Raymond Hide UKSurrey

Emeritus Professor of Physics,Oxford University

Senior Research Investigator in Mathematics, Im-perial College,London

Prof.M.GovindKumar Menon

INDNewDelhi

Dr.Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor, IndianSpace Research Organisation,Govt. of IndiaMember of the Council of the PAS

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences,

Welcome,and Goals

Academicians

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PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES


15

Dr. Reza Ardakanian Born in 1958 in Yazd, Iran,holds an MSc and PhD from McMaster Universityof Canada and teaches/researches in the field ofwater resources management. He represents the I.R. I ran in the Intergovernmental Council of IHP inUNESCO. He sits on the Governing Board of UN-ESCO-IHE, an international water education insti-tute based in Delft, the Netherlands. He is a boardmember of IHA (Intl. Hydropower Association)and President of IR-IHA. Dr. Ardakanian cooper-ates with the United Nations University as themember of the Advisory Committee for the Insti-

tute of Environmental & Human Security based inBonn, Germany. He is the Founding Director ofRCUWM, a regional center on urban water man-agement based in Tehran, I ran and under the aus-pices of UNESCO. Until 8 October 2005, he wasDeputy Minister for Water Affairs in the Ministryof Energy of Iran. In Dec. 2004 he was awarded lifemembership of The International Water Academy.

ADDRESS: RCUWM-Tehran(Region al Cent er on Urban Water Management )120, Kharr amshahr Street15537-13511 Teheran (I ran )Tel. +98 21 8905003 Fax +98 21 8801555

Em ail: [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Lennart Bengtsson was born in Swedenin 1935 and obtained his PhD in Meteorology fromthe University of Stockholm. His fields of researchare climate modelling, data assimilation and thehydrological cycle. He is currently an Emeritus Sci-entific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Me-tereology in Hamburg, Germany. He is also, amongother awards and honours, a Fellow of the Ameri-can Meteorological Society and a Member of theAcademia Europea. He has published some 170scientific papers in the fields of numerical analysisand data assimilation, numerical weather predic-tion and climate modelling.

ADDRESS: Max-Planck-In stitu t fr MeteorologieBu ndesstt rasse 55D-20146 Hambu rg (Germ any)Tel. +49 40 41173349 Fax +49 40 41173366Em ail: [email protected]

Dr. Moustafa T. Chahine was born in Beirut,Lebanon, and received his PhD from the Universityof California at Berkeley. He is currently a J PL Se-

nior Research Scientist at NASAs J et PropulsionLaboratory, a Division of the California Institute of

Technology. He served as J PL Chief Scientist from1985-2000 and is currently the Principal Investiga-tor on the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS),which was launched onboard the NASA Aqua satel-lite in 2002 to study Earths water cycle and energyfluxes. Dr. Chahines primary interests are in remotesensing of planetary atmospheres, and in studies ofclimate processes. He has served as a member ofNASAs Earth System Sciences Committee and asChair of the World Meteorological OrganizationsGlobal Energy and Water Cycle Experiment(GEWEX) from 1989-2000. Among his publications

is an essay on The hydrological cycle and its influ-ence on climate published in Nature359, pp. 373-380, 1992. He is Fellow in the American PhysicalSociety, the American Association for the Advance-ment of Science, the American Geophysical Unionand the American and British Meteorological Soci-eties.

ADDRESS: Jet Propulsion Laboratory,Californ ia I nstitu te of Technology4800 Oak Grove Dri vePasadena, CA 91109 (USA)Tel. +1 818 3546057 Fax +1 818 3931554Em ail : chahin [email protected] asa.gov

Prof. Peter M. Cox was born in 1964 in London.He started as the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology(CEH) Science Director for Climate Change in De-cember 2004, based in Dorset, having previouslybeen at the Met Office Hadley Centre for ClimatePrediction and Research (since 1990). His educa-tional background is in Physics and TheoreticalPhysics (Physics BSc Warwick, Part II Maths Cambridge, Plasma Physics PhD Imperial), butspent his years at the Hadley Centre thinking aboutthe impacts of ecosystems on the physical climatesystem. His personal research has focused on mod-elling the interaction between the land surface andthe climate, and he led the team which carried outthe first climate projection to include vegetationand the carbon cycle as dynamic interactive ele-ments. As a Science Director at CEH, he aims toimprove the links between data and models, and toutilise long-term datasets to detect climate changeimpacts on ecohydrological systems.

ADDRESS: CEH DorsetWin fri th Technology Cent reWinfrith Newbu rghDor chester, Dor set DT2 8ZD (UK )

Tel. +44 1305 213501 Fax +44 1305 213600Em ail : [email protected]

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Prof. William E. Dietrich A member of the U.S.National Academy of Sciences and many other ac-ademic societies, his research has focused on boththeoretical problems in landscape evolution andpractical problems in linking landuse activities to

river ecosystems. He has conducted field studiesand contributed to papers on runoff generationmechanisms, landslide processes, soil productionand transport, channel initiation, sediment trans-port processes, river meander mechanics, flood-plain sedimentation, and river incision intobedrock. He has been awarded numerous researchdistinctions throughout his career.

ADDRESS: Un iversity of Califor ni a, BerkeleyDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science313 McConeBerkeley, CA 94720-4767 (U SA)Tel. +1 510 6422633 Fax +1 510 6439980

Em ai l: bi [email protected]

Prof. Malin Falkenmarkwas born in Stockholm,Sweden in 1925 and is a fil lic graduate from Up-psala University. She is Professor Emerita of Ap-plied and International Hydrology, and since 1991tied to the Stockholm International Water I nsitute(SIWI) and for 12 years in charge of the scientificprogramme of the annual Stockholm Water Sym-posia. She has received two Honorary Doctorates(Philosophy from Linkping University in 1975,

Technology from Lund University in 2005).

ADDRESS: Stockholm In ternat ional Water I nst itute(SIWI)Hantverkargatan 5SE-112 21 Stockholm (Sweden)Tel. +46 8 52213977 Fax +46 8 52213961Email: malin .falkenmark@siw i.org

Prof. Graham Farquhar was born in Australia in1947 and is Distinguished Professor, FAA, FRS atthe Environmental Biology Group ResearchSchool of Biological Sciences, Australian Nation-al University in Canberra. His research interests

are integration of photosynthesis and growth withnitrogen and water use of plants; stomatal physi-ology; isotopic composition of plants; globalchange science. He has published extensively onthese topics and is a member of several Australianand international learned societies and scientificacademies.

ADDRESS: Envi ronmental Bi ology GroupResearch School of B io logical SciencesGPO Box 475Canberra, ACT 2601 (Au strali a)Tel. +61 2 61253743 Fax +61 2 61254919

Em ail: graham.farquhar@anu .edu.au

Prof. Marino Gatto Born in 1949, Marino Gatto isProfessor of Ecology, Faculty of Civil, Environmen-tal and Land Engineering, Polytechnical School ofMilan. He is the president of the Italian Society ofEcology. His cultural background is engineering

and mathematical modelling and his research hasentirely focused on ecology, sustainability andmanagement of renewable resources since 1974.

ADDRESS: Politecnico di M ilanoDi partim ento di E lettroni ca e I nform azion e Room 210Via Ponzio, 34/5I-20133 M ilano (I taly)Tel. +39 02 23993536 Fax +39 02 23993412Em ail : [email protected] i.i t

Dr. Gabriel G. Katul was born in 1966 in Beirut,

Lebanon where he received his B.E. degree at theAmerican University of Beirut in 1988. He receivedhis M.S. degree in 1990 at Oregon State Universityand his Ph.D degree in 1993 at the University ofCalifornia (in Davis). He is currently a professor ofmicrometeorology and surface hydrology at theNicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sci-ences and the Department of Civil and Environ-mental Engineering at Duke University in Durham,North Carolina. He is currently serving as an asso-ciate editor for Boundary Layer Meteorology, Ad-vances in Water Resources, and Water ResourcesResearch. He was a visiting fellow of the Common-

wealth Science and Industrial Research Organiza-tion in Australia, and has received several honoraryawards, including an honorary certificate by LaSeccin de Agrofsica de la Sociedad Cubana deFsica in Habana. He received the Macelwaneaward and became an elected fellow of the Ameri-can Geophysical Union in 2002. He has authoredmore than 115 peer-reviewed manuscripts in mass,energy, and momentum exchange processes nearthe land-atmosphere interface.

ADDRESS: Ni cholas Schoolof the Envi ronm ent and Earth Sciences,Box 90328, Duke Un iversity

Du rham , NC 27708-0328 (USA)Tel. +1 919 6138033 Fax +1 919 6848741Em ai l: [email protected]: ht tp://ww w.ni cholas.duke.edu/people/facult y/katul/homepage.html

Prof. Ulrike Lohmann was born in 1966 inBerlin, Germany and obtained her MSc and PhDin climate modelling from the Max Planck Insti-tute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany. Shewas Assistant and Associate Professor and Cana-da Research Chair at Dalhousie University, Hali-

fax, Canada, before becoming Full Professor atthe Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science

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Water and the Envi ronment Participant Biographies

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Water and the Environment Participant Biographies

at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology,Zurich, Switzerland. Her research focuses on therole of aerosol particles and clouds in the climatesystem, with emphasis on the radiation balanceand the hydrological cycle. She has published

more than 60 peer-reviewed articles. She is a leadauthor for the Fourth Assessment Report of theIntergovernmental Panel for Climate Change(IPCC) and a member of the scientific steeringcommittees of the International Global Atmos-pheric Chemistry Program, the InternationalCommission of Clouds and Precipitation and theGlobal Energy and Water Cycle Experiment(GEWEX) Radiation Panel. She is an editor forAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics and memberof the editorial board of Atmospheric Environ-ment.

ADDRESS: ETH , I nst itute for Atmospheric and Cli-

mate ScienceSchafmattstr. 30CH-8093 Zurich (Swit zerland)Tel. +41 1 6330514 Fax +41 1 6331058Em ail: ul ri ke.lohm [email protected]

Dr. Carlos A. Nobre received his Electrical Engi-neering Degree from the Instituto Tecnolgico deAeronutica, Brazil, and his PhD in Meteorologyfrom the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,USA. He is a Senior Scientist at the Instituto Na-cional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Brazil, and

former Director of the Brazilian Center for Weath-er and Climate Forecasting (CPTEC) from 1991through 2003. He is also a program scientist forthe Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experi-ment in Amazonia. Chairman-elected (2006-2008)for IGBP. His research interests in Earth Systemmodeling and biosphere-atmosphere interactionsin Amazonia.

ADDRESS: Cent ro de Previ so de Tempo e Estu dosClimti cosRodovia Presidente Du tra, Km 3912630-000 Cachoeria Pauli sta, SP (Brazil )Fax +55 12 31012825

Em ail: nobr [email protected]

Prof. Andrea Rinaldo was born in Venice in 1954.He graduated with honors in Hydraulic Engineer-ing (110/110 summa cum laude) at the Universityof Padua and earned his PhD at Purdue Universityin 1983. Professor of Civil and Environmental En-gineering (1986-) and Director, Dino Tonini Inter-national Centre for Hydrology (1996-) at the Uni-versity of Padua (Italy). Chair of Hydraulic Con-structions (Costruzioni Idrauliche) since 1992. Re-search Affiliate, Visiting Professor and Research

Associate at Department of Civil and Environmen-tal Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Tech-

nology, 1993-2002, he is currently Visiting Profes-sor at Princeton University (2004-). He receivedseveral awards and citations, including: the 2005Dalton Medal of the European Geophysical Soci-ety; the AGU Hydrology (formerly Horton) Award

(1999); the Fellowship of the American Geophysi-cal Union (2000) together with the membership ofseveral Italian Academies. Associate Editor of Ad-vances in Water Resources (1994-) and Water Re-sources Research (2000-), he has been keynote lec-turer at several international conferences. Authorand coauthor of five books (among which: FractalRiver Basins: Chance and Self-Organization, Cam-bridge Univ. Press, 1997 with I. Rodriguez-Iturbe)and more than 100 papers in refereed journals.

ADDRESS: I nternation al Centr e for H ydrology Di noToniniUn iversitdi Padova

via Loredan, 20I -35131 Padova (I taly)Tel. +39 049 8275431 Fax +30 049 8275446Em ail: rin [email protected] ipd.it

Prof. Ignacio J. Rodrguez-Iturbe is the Theodo-ra Shelton Pitney Professor of Environmental Sci-ences and Professor of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering at Princeton University. Born and ed-ucated in Venezuela he taught for many years atthe Simon Bolivar University in Caracas and atMIT in the USA. His research is in hydrology fo-

cusing in ecohydrology, geomorphohydrology andhydrometeorology. He is the author of over 200papers in international research journals and 3books in his field. He has been awarded numer-ous international prizes including the StockholmWater Prize, the Horton and Macelwane Medalsof the American Geophysical Union, the MexicoPrize of Science and Technology and the Venezue-lan National Science Prize. He is a member of nu-merous academies throughout the world and therecipient of several honorary degrees.

ADDRESS: Princeton Uni versityDepartment of Civil and En vir onm ental En gin eerin g

Prin ceton , NJ 08544 (USA)Tel. +1 609 2582287Em ail: irodri gu@prin ceton.edu

Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld was born in 1952. He re-ceived his PhD in meteorology from the HebrewUniversity of J erusalem, Israel in 1986 and is cur-rently a full professor at this university. Prof.Rosenfeld is a world-renown expert in clouds andprecipitation, including deliberate attempts to aug-ment precipitation through cloud seeding and doc-umentation of the suppressive effects of particulate

air pollution on precipitation. These findings, someof which have been documented using techniques

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Water and the Envi ronment Participant Biographies

derived by Prof. Rosenfeld that makes use of mul-ti-spectral satellite data, have major negative rami-fications for water supplies in affected areas andfor the world climate. These will have to be consid-ered by groups and individuals deliberating on

global fresh water supplies during the 21st Centu-ry. Prof. Rosenfeld has published more than 90 ref-ereed papers and chapters in books. He is a Fel-low of the American Meteorological Society andreceived numerous awards. Some of his recentpublications are: Rosenfeld D., 2000: Suppressionof Rain and Snow by Urban and Industrial Air Pol-lution, Science, 287, 1793-1796; Rosenfeld D. andI. M. Lensky, 1998: Satellite-based insights into pre-cipitation formation processes in continental andmaritime convective clouds, The Bu lleti n of Ameri-can M eteorological Society, 79, 2457-2476.

ADDRESS: I nstitu te of Earth Sciences

The Hebrew Un iversit y of Jeru salemJeru salem 91904 ( I srael)Tel. off i ce +972 2 6585821 Fax +972 2 6512372Em ail : dani el.rosenfeld@hu ji .ac.il

Prof. Soroosh Sorooshian UCI-Distinguished Pro-fessor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, andEarth System Science, University of California-Irvine, was born in 1948 in K erman, Iran. Aftercompletion of high school education, he moved tothe USA and received his PhD in 1978, in Systems

Engineering (Water Resources and Hydrologic Sys-tems Analysis) from UCLA. Dr. Sorooshian is amember of the National Academy of Engineering(NAE); Corresponding Member, InternationalAcademy of Astronautics (IAA); Fellow, American

Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS); Fellow, American Geophysical Union(AGU); Fellow, American Meteorological Society(AMS); Fellow, International Water Resources As-sociation (IWRA); Chair, Science Steering Group(SSG) of Global Energy and Water Cycle Experi-ment (GEWEX) of the World Climate ResearchProgramme (WCRP). He has served on numerousadvisory committees, including those of NRC,NASA, NOAA, NSF, EPA, and UNESCO. Sorooshi-an was named by NASA as the recipient of the 2005Distinguished Public Service Medal. NASA citesSorooshian for his distinguished record in provid-ing scientific leadership for global water cycle re-

search and assuring that NASA science is well inte-grated into international programs.

ADDRESS: Uni versity of California, I rvineDepartment of Civil and En vir onm ental En gin eerin gE-4130 Engineeri ng GatewayI rvi ne, CA 92697-2175 (USA)Tel. +1 949 8248825 Fax +1 949 8248831Em ail : [email protected]

For the biographies of the Academicians cfr. Pontificia Academia Scientiarvm, Year Book(Vatican City 2004), p. 15 ff.

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CASINA PIO IVV-00120 VATICAN CITY

Tel: 0039 0669883451 Fax: 0039 0669885218Email:[email protected]

For fur ther informat ion please visit:http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdscien/index.htm

Noi non entreremo affatto, lo capite bene, nella comples-sit di questa questione tecnica n delle sue possibilit diapplicazione, che senza dubbio sarebbero ancora prema-ture. Ma sappiamo che si tratta qui di una sorta di impor-tante metabolismo che lumanit ha interesse a investigarea fondo, dato che la scarsit delle riserve di acqua dolce ri-schia di ostacolare il suo sviluppo. Sottolineiamo soltanto,nel pi generale campo della ricerca scientifica, due atteg-giamenti che ci sembra debbano caratterizzare lo scienzia-to e lo scienziato cristiano. Da un lato, egli deve lealmenteinterrogarsi sullavvenire terrestre dellumanit e da uo-mo responsabile concorrere a prepararlo, a preservarlo,a eliminare i rischi; noi riteniamo che questa solidarietcon le generazioni future sia una forma di carit alla quale

molti, del resto, sono oggi sensibili nel quadro dellecolo-gia. Ma, allo stesso tempo, lo scienziato deve essere anima-to dalla fiducia che la natura nasconde delle possibilit se-grete, che spetta allintelligenza scoprire e mettere in atto,per giungere allo sviluppo che nel disegno del Creatore.Questa speranza nellAutore della natura e dello spiritoumano rettamente intesa in grado di dare al ricerca-tore credente una energia nuova e serena.

Paul VI, Address of 19 April 1975 to t he parti c ipants of th estudy week onBiological and Artificial Membranes and De-

salination of Water, in Papal Add resses, The PontificalAcademy of Sciences, Scripta Varia 100, Vatican City 2003,p. 208 f.

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