Wednesday, August 24 2011
Water is essential for life and access to it is a basic human right. However water is the source of many fundamental challenges. It can be in very short supply, too contaminated for consumption, the source of disease and a destroyer in unpredicted floods. Projections suggest that by 2050 5 billion people will suffer water scarcity and food production needed – which is highly water dependent - will be double what it is today. To measure and predict the quality and quantity of water resources and to manage them effectively is a major challenge and statistics should have a central role.
In 2011, the ISI World Statistics Congress will have one day devoted to sessions addressing the many statistical challenges that are associated with “Water – quality and quantity”. Water Theme Day: Statistical Aspects (WTD) is a new feature added to the traditional ISI meetings with the objectives of
-
Highlighting the important contributions statistics can make to the solution of water quality problems and quantity challenges facing the world, and
-
Identifying statistical research challenges that arise.
The growing world population and climate change will increase the pressure on water resources, potentially leading to loss of life and conflict among neighbours and nations. The WTD will provide a forum for discussion on the status and future directions for relevant research in statistics and probability and for interdisciplinary collaboration. A special issue of one of the ISI Journals (International Statistical Review or Environmetrics) will be devoted to the proceedings of WTD.
The major water issues to be considered include:
-
Water quality and human health
-
Climate change, ecosystem health and environmental accounting
-
Socio-economic issues, water security & water management, and
-
Droughts, floods and the modelling of extremes.
These issues create statistical challenges in sampling methods, new measurement technologies, modeling, forecasting, inference, risk assessment and decision making.
The WTD Steering Committee (chaired by Abdel El-Shaarawi, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) invites members of ISI and its Sections to contribute to the planning of the programme.
Early bird fee (before 31st May) for WTD is €50
Delegates who wish to register for the Water Theme Day: Statistical Aspects only - click here
