Socioeconomic Systems: Desalinated Water Supply

This report presents the results of a research project examining the relationship between seawater desalination and climate change in the Arabian Gulf. It was developed within a wider climate change research programme designed to improve understanding of environmental vulnerability and potential responses across local, national, and regional scales. The study assesses how increasing desalination activity, driven by socioeconomic growth, may affect marine conditions in combination with climate change. Using a regional ocean modelling framework, the analysis evaluates projected brine discharges, temperature variations, and salinity changes through the middle of the twenty-first century. Findings indicate that intensified desalination and climate change together may significantly alter the Gulf’s physical properties, particularly salinity and temperature patterns, with implications for marine environmental conditions.