The Climate and Water Research Unit (CWRU)
Understanding how climate change affects global water systems
The global water system is changing in response to climate change and human development. Changes in water quantity, quality, and distribution have profound implications for ecosystems and freshwater supplies worldwide.
The Climate and Water Research Unit (CWRU) at UCL is a multidisciplinary network of scientists examining the interaction between climate and terrestrial hydrological systems to address fundamental questions about the global hydrological system and its consequences for our life-support systems.
CWRU focuses on how climate change impacts river basins globally, with a particular emphasis on the tropics and Africa, where climate and hydrological variability are most extreme. Our research explicitly considers societal changes such as population growth, urbanisation, and development.
Research Focus Areas
Projections of future climate and basin-scale hydrology.
Basin-scale and large-scale land-atmosphere models.
Impacts of climate variability on soil moisture, ice, and groundwater.
Effects of climate change on wetlands and other ecosystems.
Catchment-scale processes in data-poor environments.
Understanding water scarcity.
Integrating uncertainty in hydrological projections into adaptation strategies.
Research and Initiatives
CWRU research contributes to
- UNESCO-IHP GRAPHIC
- FRIEND and HELP programmes
- IAH Commission on Groundwater and Climate Change
Core Staff
Professor of Physical Geography - Hydrology and Wetlands
Click to email. j.r.thompson@ucl.ac.ukExplore BSc Geography
Study climate change, ecosystems, hazards and global challenges through fieldwork, lab training and research-led teaching in the heart of London.
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