Faculty of Social Sciences

Department of Geography & Environmental Studies

Climate Change Adaptations: Term Paper

Presented to
Prof. Amare Sewnet
&
1st year PhD students
 INTRODUCTION
climate change
 Earth's climate is changing.
 due to natural variability
 more human activity is releasing heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, contributing to the
'greenhouse effect' warming the earth.
 Daniel et al., (2011)
the rapid climate change we are seeing is being driven by
 people using oil, gas, and coal for their homes, factories, and transportation.
 When these fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide (CO2) will be released.
 These gases trap heat from the sun and increase the temperature of the earth.
 Accordingly, the planet is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the 19 th century and the
amount of CO2 has increased by 50%.
 Cont’d

 As the climate temperatures up

 rainfall patterns change,
 evaporation increases,
 glaciers melt,
 sea levels rise and
 droughts (frequent, severe, and longer-lasting)
 reduce water levels in rivers and ground,
 Negatively affect crop growth,
 increase wildfires. (Elby and Venton, 2009)
 Cont’d

 Then it's no secret that climate change will affect all regions of the world
 Climate change is an accepted reality affecting us now and in the future.
 To combat climate change,
 Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through various climate mitigation mechanisms
or
 lowering their effects through practicing adaptation measures.
 Objectives of the term paper
 Thus the purpose of this term paper is to review on Climate change adaptations. Specifically,

this work has the following objectives

 To summarize the concept of climate change adaptation,

 To list the major strategies of climate change adaptation,

 To discuss climate change adaptation opportunities, constraints, and limits ,

 To assess the relation and differences between adaptation and mitigation and

 To reflect on maladaptation
The concept of climate change adaptation
UNEP (2013)

 Is changing our behaviours, systems and possibly lifestyles to protect our families, economies,
and the environment in which we live from the adverse effects of climate change.

 The aim is to reduce risks from adverse effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels,
intensifying extreme weather events and food insecurity.
 Adaptation……………..Cont’d
IPCC (2001)
 adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or anticipated climatic stimuli
(variability, extremes and change) or their impacts to reduce damage or take advantage of an
advantageous opportunity
 Sam (2016) indicated climate change adaptation refers to actions that moderate the negative
impacts of climate change while taking advantage of potential new opportunities.
 This includes maximizing profitable opportunities that may be related to climate change.
 extending the growing season and increasing yields in some areas.
Elby and Venton (2009) and Hanemann (2008) explained

 adaptation as a process involving changes and decisions aimed at

 protecting individuals and societies from the adverse effects of climate change and
 enabling them to function and achieve well-being under changing climatic conditions.
 This is related to both experienced climate change and expected future changes.
 Climate adaptation protects people and places by making them less susceptible to
climate change.
 E.g. communities can build embankments or move buildings to higher ground to prevent sea
level rise and increased flooding.
 Actions to adapt to climate change make us more resilient, this means that humans
will be better able to handle change.
 global problem…….felt locally
 Cities and communities around the world are working to solve their own climate
challenges.
 They are working to build flood defences, plan for heat waves and high temperatures,
build well-drained sidewalks to deal with floods and storms, and improve water storage
and utilization.
 According to the 2013 IPCC Climate Change Report, governments at various levels are also
becoming more adaptive.
 In other words climate change is embedded in development plans like
 how to deal with the increasingly extreme disasters we are experiencing,
 how to protect our coasts and deal with rising sea levels,
 how best to manage our land and forests,
 how to deal with and prepare for droughts,
 how to develop new crop varieties and
 How to protect energy and public infrastructure.
 …must adapt
 Therefore, in order to survive and thrive we must adapt to climate change
 Adaptation strategies to climate change range from individual to local, national and global
efforts.
 Some adaptations are driven by changes in government policies, while others are driven
by technological advances.
 Technology and planning can provide regions with the opportunity to adapt to changing
environmental conditions.
 Major climate change adaptation
strategies
 Climate change adaptation strategies do not aim to reduce or stop climate
change, but rather to respond to climate change and limit its adverse
impacts.
 i.e. strategies for adapting to the situation.
 Climate change adaptation strategies address different sectors of society and
vary widely in approach and effectiveness
 Building flood defences

 when sea levels rise due to climate change, walls and dams help limit
flooding in coastal areas, and wetlands can be built to buffer coastlines
 Improving stormwater drainage, both near the coast and inland, will help
protect communities from flooding as climate change increases rainfall during
storms.
 Other types of flood protection construction that are recommended are
practices such as
 dams, diversions, flood plains and groundwater recharge, and river protection.
flood defences
Planning for heat waves and higher temperatures
 heat can increase the risk of other types of disasters.
 Heat can exacerbate droughts and dry conditions can in turn lead to more saviour
problems like wildfires.
 To adapt, people can upgrade their buildings with better insulation and more
efficient cooling technology as well as a green roof and shade trees to help keep
things cool.
Abrahamson et al. (2009)
 heat wave plans should place greater emphasis on population-based information
strategies using
 innovative information dissemination methods to raise awareness of heat vulnerability in
older people and
 Identifying behaviour-modifying interventions should be considered.
green roof and shade trees
 Dealing with disaster
 Climate change increases the risk of disasters.
Jones and Mearns, (2005) detailed that
 hurricanes are getting stronger,
 storms are getting wetter,
 heat waves are getting hotter and longer, and
 the risk of wildfires is increasing.
 To adapt such risks they recommend
 community map hazards,
 setting up warning systems and
 setting up evacuation routes and wind shelters.
 To help people recover from hazards,
 communities can build disaster funds and help individuals obtain adequate insurance.
 Public health and emergency medical services also help keep people safe.
 Adapting farms and food
 Changes in rainfall make agriculture difficult.
 Farmers are adapting technology to plant drought-tolerant crops and
 make irrigation more efficient.
 According to World Fish Centre, (2009) ensure that fish are not overfished.
 Communities are also making changes to
 improve food storage and preservation,
 operate food banks and
 distribute food to those in need.
 Water management
 One of the impacts of climate change is water insecurity
 This can be caused by many factors, including
 increased evapotranspiration,
 the contamination of existing freshwater sources via rising sea levels and
 the increased frequency and intensity of drought events
 This lower supply of water combined with growing demand from an increasing
population can result in damaging and prolonged water shortages
 Water management
ICID, (2004)
 Introducing water-efficient agricultural practices.
 does not have to be wasteful
 Finding alternative water stores
 e.g. desalinated seawater,
 rainwater, and
 treated sewage water
 This takes the pressure off the traditional water stores and prevents overexploitation.
 The creation of pipelines allows for the transportation of water to more water-scarce areas.
 Increasing water conservation in periods of water surplus (e.g. during rainy seasons) will allow some
reserves to be collected for times when water is scarce.
 Preservation of green spaces
 maintaining green spaces such as parks and forests can help adapt to climate
change by using the natural/existing environment as a carbon sink (Keskitalo,
2011 and Corlett and Westcott, 2013).
 It is a mitigation and adaptation strategy that aims not only to mitigate the effects
of climate change, but also to adapt the current situation to meet the challenges
posed by climate change.
 Climate Change Adaptation Opportunities,
Constraints and Limits
a. Adaptation Opportunities are (Jones and Mearns, 2005)
 enabling factors that enhance the potential for actors to plan and implement actions to
achieve adaptation objectives or facilitate adaptive responses by natural systems to
climate risk
 factors that drive the planning and implementation of adaptation,
 measures that expand adaptation options or provide additional benefits.
 enhance the ability of actors to secure existing goals,
 Keskitalo et al. (2011)
 increasing public awareness and support for adaptation,
 the availability of additional resources to overcome constraints and
 soft borders from actors at other levels of government, and
 interest in achieving co-benefits arising from adaptation strategies can drive adaptation planning
and implementation
 b. Adaptation Constraints
 are those obstacles and challenges that act negatively on the practicability of different
reactive and anticipatory adaptation methods.
 factors that complicate the planning and implementation of adaptation measures.
 Adaptation constraints limit the variety and effectiveness of options for actors to secure
existing goals or to alter natural systems in ways that preserve productivity and
function.
 Jones and Mearns, (2005) listed such barriers as lack of
 technical capacity, financial resources, awareness, communication, etc.
 Elby and Venton (2009) itemised adaptation barriers as
 technological, financial, informational
 barriers as well as social and cultural barriers.
 c. Adaptation Limit
 Constraints alone or in combination can push actors or natural systems to their
adaptive limits.
 The adaptive limit is the point at which actors' goals or needs are not protected
from unacceptable risks by adaptive actions (Moser and Ekstrom, 2010).
 Adaptation limits therefore mean the lack of adaptation options for a particular
actor, system and planning horizon or the need for unacceptable adaptation
efforts to achieve social goals
 adaptation and mitigation

 Mitigation addresses the causes of climate change while adaptation addresses

the impacts (James and Kier, 2014).
 the more we can mitigate climate change and limit warming, the less we need
to adapt.
 But our climate response requires both mitigation and adaptation.
 The IPCC 4th assessment report states that adaptation and mitigation alone
cannot prevent the severe impacts of climate change, but together they can
significantly reduce risks.
 Mitigation Adaptation
 It is a tactic used to lessen the effects of climate  It is the strategy to adjust to climatic change
change.  Address the effect of the consequence
 Addresses the root causes of climate change or is  It is localized and region-specific
the action taken to stabilize or lower GHG
concentration.  It involves taking appropriate measures to prevent
the effects of climate change
 It is not localized; it is global.
 The measures such as building flood barriers,
 It entails minimizing the negative consequences of
effective utilization of water, development of
existing risks and incidents.
drought-resistant crops, etc. can be taken.
 Utilizing innovative equipment, clean energy
sources, and improving the energy efficiency
 Increase the use of renewable energy such as solar
 Efficient means of transport implementation:
 electric public transport, bicycle, shared
cars etc.
 ……adaptation and mitigation
 conflicts may arise between adaptation and mitigation objectives that must be
addressed in the broader context of community priorities and risk tolerance (James,
2014).
 For example, increasing the use of air conditioners can be said to be an adaptation
measure to reduce the health damage caused by the heat waves that are expected
to increase in the future. However, air conditioning is energy intensive and can
increase carbon footprint, depending on energy source.
 Therefore, adaptation and mitigation implications, as well as their cost,
effectiveness, and public acceptability should be considered when deciding which
adaptation action is most appropriate for a given situation.
 Maladaptation
 On one hand, adaptation measures can minimize the risks posed by climate change,
but on the other hand, it is significant to recognize whether adaptive practices have
unintended costs or side effects and do more harm than good
 When Some adaptation actions go further and create situations that actually make
things worse
 Maladaptation also occur when actions lead to situations worse than those the
original strategy was intended to address and process of becoming more exposed to
climate change (Walter, et al. 2017).
 Built defences such as levees can protect coastal areas in the short term, but their
construction can destroy coastal ecosystems.
Summary

 The impacts of climate change will affect people and nature in various ways,
requiring various adaptation measures
 Adaptation to climate change is the process of adapting to the current or
expected impacts of climate change