|
|
|
|
Adapting to Climate Change
13/04/2009
Author :
Graeme Daniel
"I used to think adaptation subtracted from our efforts on prevention. But I’ve changed my mind. Poor countries are vulnerable and need our help." (Al Gore, in Adapt or Die / The Economist: September 11, 2008)
If we are experiencing an accelerating process of climate change , and if the chief cause is anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions , and if there's a chance that our efforts to mitigate emissions may fail, we need to accept that adaptation strategies should be developed to provide an effective Plan B. This set of resources confirms that many people are working to establish the groundwork for Plan B, and that all is not yet lost. Ultimately, education is a key strategy among efforts to cope with climate change, and our next issue of WWWTools for Education will present a collection of learning resources to this end.
Key Concepts: Vulnerability, Adaptation, Resilience, Sustainability.
The Adaptation Generation (Christina Larson / The Vine: January 05, 2009) - "To adapt or not to adapt? It used to be an impolite question"
- literature review with special emphasis on poverty and developing countries
- key concepts and their relationships: sensitivity, vulnerability, impact potential, resilience, responsiveness, adaptive capacity, adaptability, adaptation.
- adaptation issues.
- possibilities for projects in developing countries.
- lists Core Members of the Climate Change Knowledge Network
- how experiences of vulnerability and resilience differ.
- interactions between human and natural systems.
- the need for institutional transformations.
- "vulnerability" is "a measure of the degree to which a human or natural system is unable to cope with adverse effects, including changing variability and extremes."
- "adaptation" refers to the adjustments made in response to threats - see Examples of Planned Adaptation for Different Sectors (Table 5–1)
- "resilience" is "the ability of a social or ecological system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same basic structure and ways of functioning, the capacity for self-organization, and the capacity to adapt to stress and change" (Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC).
- links between social and ecological resilience.
- building resilient rural livelihoods - examples from Nepal, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Tanzania.
- building resilient urban areas.
- financing resilience.
- linking mitigation and adaptation.
- varying definitions of "vulnerability" and "adaptation".
- factors determining and exacerbating vulnerability.
- reasons for considering adaptation.
- types of adaptation.
- vulnerability and adaptation assessments.
- framework for vulnerability assessment.
- funding adaptation.
- dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental
- conclusion: integrating adaptation considerations into policy processes and decision-making across a range of sectors and scales is critical in managing the impacts of climate change.
Regions at Risk.
Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change; Final Report of the AIACC Project (Neil Leary, Jyoti Kulkarni and Clark Seipt / International START Secretariat and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, November 2007) - project implemented over the period 2001-2007, aimed to enhance scientific capacity to assess climate change impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation, and to improve links between climate change science and policy communities to enable adaptation planning and action.
24 assessments were executed in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Small Island States, by more than 300 scientists, stakeholders and students from 50 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Small Island States
AFRICA:
ASIA:
SMALL ISLAND STATES:
Islands Fight the Tide ( Television New Zealand: January 22, 2009) - the 52 South Pacific island nations are the mine canaries of climate change.
EUROPE:
NORTH AMERICA:
Download full report or parts.
AUSTRALIA:
- identifies components of vulnerability: exposure and sensitivity, together constituting potential impact, and adaptive capacity (Figure ES.1)
- lists priority vulnerable systems and regions.
- considers agricultural systems, water supply, settlements and emergency services, energy, national leadership.
Strategies for Adaptation.
- looks at the history of human adaptation to climate.
- highlights key issues in the design of adaptation policy.
- summarizes and assesses adaptation efforts to date.
- outlines approaches to future international efforts.
- current understanding of adaptation to climate change.
- framework for assessing technologies for adaptation.
- the process of technology development and transfer regarding adaptation.
- examples of technologies for adaptation in 5 sectors (coastal zones, water resources, agriculture, public health, and infrastructure), along with 3 case studies per sector.
- synthesis of findings that have implications for climate policy.
Sectors and Solutions.
OCEANS:
HEALTH ISSUES:
ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES
Economics of Adaptation (UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs / 2008) - the Government's role in attempting to overcome the Stern Review's barriers to adaptation; limits to action.
Basic Economics Guidance ( Climate Change Economics) - see especially the section Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
ENERGY CONSUMPTION:
Something Spectacular Is Going to Happen (Tom Heuerman / TC Daily Planet: August 16, 2008) - "Sustainability is the moral issue of this generation ... we should not try to continue our dependence on fossil fuels."
POPULATION CONTROL:
Strangely enough, the size and continuing expansion of human population is not much mentioned in this debate. However, some brave souls are biting the bullet...
Climate Change and Population (Rosamund McDougall et al / Optimum Population Trust, 2008) - considers demographic growth as a driver of climate change; effects of population size on mitigation and adaptation. Large resource list appended.
- Taking On Population and Climate Change (Carolyn Vogel)
- Should We Be Talking About Population and Climate Change? (Karen Hardee)
- Combating Global Warming Brings Population Back to the Agenda (Leiwen Jiang)
FOOD SUPPLY:
WATER RESOURCES:
Climate Change and Water Adaptation Issues (Anthony Footitt et al / European Environment Agency, 2007) - the need to adapt to changing water supply regimes, current policies and regulations, adaptation initiatives by sector and region, future challenges. Supplemented by Annex 1: Country Level Activities on Climate Change in Relation to Water Resource Issues.
See also the useful set of links at Water (US Environmental Protection Agency: January 01, 2009)
The Question of Water ( A Blog by Kevin Cox: October 19, 2008) - applying the concept of Rewards to water consumption.
Desalination and Australia's Long-Term Water Security ( Australian National Water Commission / October 30, 2008) introduces Emerging Trends in Desalination: A Review (UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, UNSW: October 2008) - research and emerging trends in desalination technology, discusses energy minimisation and environmental issues. The merits of desalination technologies in Australia, and alternative supply options. Download the Executive Summary or the full Review
AGRICULTURE:
- Sustainability – the concept and definitions
- Climate change and sustainability – the issues
Farming and Land Use to Cool the Planet (Sara J. Scherr and Sajal Sthapit / Chapter 3: State of the World, 2009) - outlines 5 strategies for increasing sustainability, improving rural incomes, and easing adaptation to climate change.
FORESTS:
Fires to Get Bigger: Report (Ben Cubby / Sydney Morning Herald: December 05, 2008) - need for more planning and funding for fire-control.
ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE:
TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL:
BUSINESS:
Ecosystem Markets Take Off (Ben Block / Worldwatch Institute: January 12, 2009) - exchanges of nature's services add new dimensions to conservation.
Examples of Planning and Action Around the World.
SCOTLAND:
BANGLADESH:
FIJI:
JAPAN:
CANADA:
UNITED STATES:
WORLD:
(World Bank)
News.
US Names New Climate Change Envoy ( Indo-Asian News Service: January 27, 2009) - Todd Stern will represent the US in negotiations with major polluting nations to mitigate GHG emissions.
New Day on Climate Change ( IHT: January 27, 2009) - President Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency to consider California's application to set its own rules on greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks.
EU Calls for Global Carbon Market ( BBC News: January 28, 2009) - by 2015 the European Commission wants to link its ETS to other carbon trading systems, and to include emerging economies by 2020.
A Breath of Fresh Air (Brian Beutler / The Guardian: January 28, 2009) - Al Gore appeared before Congress to call for the United States to recast global warming as an international concern, and to take a strong leadership role at the climate change conference in Copenhagen (December 2009)
BOOKS.
Paperback: $13.57
ISBN-10: 039333418X
ISBN-13: 978-0393334180
Paperback: $44.00
ISBN-10: 0521690331
ISBN-13: 978-0521690331
Paperback: $13.57
ISBN-10: 0520255585
ISBN-13: 978-0520255586
f726724d-eae3-40ed-8231-3bc885c6b92b
|
|