Human-induced climate change will affect the lives of most populations in the next decade and beyond. It will have greatest, and generally earliest, impact on the poorest and most disadvantaged populations on the planet. Changes in climatic conditions and increases in weather variability affect human wellbeing, safety, health and survival in many ways. Some impacts are direct-acting and immedia...

Different levels of government initiate the development of strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Climate change is affecting decision making and shaping its priorities as an additional factor in the often already complex domain of environmental governance. Spatial planning has a key role in addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. This study was the first to review 25 ...

Aim Species can respond to global climate change by range shifts or by phenotypic adaptation. At the community level, range shifts lead to a turnover of species, i.e. community reassembly. In contrast, phenotypic adaptation allows species to persist in situ , conserving community composition. So far, community reassembly and adaptation have mostly been studied separately. In nature, however, bo...

This paper assesses the role of the public sector in adaptation to climate change. We first offer a definition and categorisation of climate change adaptation. We then consider the primary economic principles that can guide the assignment of adaptation tasks to either the private or the public sector, as well as those guiding assignment within the public sector itself. We find that the role of ...

For variety of reasons, extreme events are thought of as propelling adaptation to climate change (Füssel, 2007; IPCC, 2012). In the simplest formulation of this logical assertion, extreme weather and climate events transcend the signal-to-noise threshold and make climate risks starkly evident to decision-makers. Similarly, they make latent societal vulnerability manifest, and overcome economic ...

As sustainable forest management is threatened by climate change, adaptation measures may be needed to maintain the productive capacity of tropical forests. Yet the extent to which foresters across the tropics implement adaptation actions in anticipation to climate change impacts remains largely unexplored. In this paper, an assessment of the perceptions of climate risks and the implementation ...

Climate change impacts are seen within growing numbers of cities in low- and middle-income countries, so there is growing interest in the adaptation and mitigation plans and programs put forward by city authorities. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the constraints which cities face them in this subject by analyzing the case of Tehran. City has a commitment to decentralizatio...

It is likely that climate change communications and media coverage will increasingly stress the importance of adaptation, yet little is known about whether or how this may affect attitudes towards mitigation. Despite concerns that communicating adaptation could undermine public support for mitigation, previous research has found it can have the opposite effect by increasing risk salience. It is...

The paper concludes with a cautionary note that adaptation is not a panacea. It should not be the only strategy considered for the reduction of risks posed by climate change. Adaptation comes at a cost and society has limited resources to devote to this activity. Also, there are uncertainties associated with the effectiveness of any adaptive response. Any portfolio of climate change policies sh...

The capacity to collect and analyze massive amounts of data is transforming research in the natural and social sciences (1). And yet, the climate change adaptation community has largely overlooked these developments. Here, we examine how “big data” can inform adaptation research and decision-making and outline what’s needed from the adaptation community to maximize this opportunity. We contend ...