Adapting to Climate Change

Global climate change is one of the most important environmental issues facing the world today. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) acknowledges the potential for global climate change to have major effects on the world economy. The work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli mate Change (lPCC) is focused on evaluating the scientific data on climate change and analyzing the potential responses to it. One of the primary issues in the global climate change debate is how to adapt to any change that might occur. The process ofidentifying adaptation measures and evaluating their effectiveness is the focus of this book. In dealing with climate change adaptation, the sequence of events in conduct ing these types of analyses can be generalized as follows: - Develop scenarios for the possible range of climate change, - Assess the vulnerability of various sectors of the national economy and infrastructure to climate change, and - Identify and evaluate measures in each sector to adapt to the climate change It is this third step that is the subject of this book. In presenting this material, Chapter 1 gives an overview of the concept of climate change adaptation and the general principles guiding the conduct of analyses in this area. Chapters 2-7 give the results of evaluating climate change adaptation options in the agriculture, water resources, coastal resources, forest and ecosystems, fisheries, and human settlements sectors.

1 Overview.- Rapporteur's Statement.- An Overview of Adaptation to Climate Change.- Past Changes in Climate and Societal Adaptations.- Assessing Climate Change Adaptations: The IPCC Guidelines.- Adapting to Climate Variations in Developing Regions: A Planning Framework.- The Growth of Adaptation Capacity: Practice and Policy.- Using a Decision Matrix to Assess Climate Change Options.- The Potential Costs of Climate Change Adaptation.- Malawi: How Climate Change Adaptation Options Fit within the UNFCCC National Communication and National Development Plans.- 2 Agriculture.- Rapporteur's Statement.- Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change in Egypt.- Adaptive Measures for Zimbabwe's Agricultural Sector.- Model-Based Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment for Wheat Yields in Kazakhstan.- The Impact of Climate Change on Spring Wheat Yield in Mongolia and Its Adaptability.- Some Adaptations of the Tea Plant to Dry Environments.- Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Global Food Production: Options for Adaptive Strategies.- 3 Water Resources.- Rapporteur's Statement.- Water Resources Adaptation Strategy in an Uncertain Environment.- Anthropogenic Climate Change and Reduction of Water Resources: Adaptation Issues Related to the Economy in Kazakhstan.- Adaptation of Hydropower Generation in Costa Rica and Panama to Climate Change.- Managing Water Resources for Climate Change Adaptation.- Potential Effects of Sea-Level Rise in the Pearl River Delta Area: Preliminary Study Results and a Comprehensive Adaptation Strategy.- 4 Coastal Resources.- Rapporteur's Statement.- Sea-Level Rise Along the Lima Coastal Zone, Perú, as a Result of Global Warming: Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures.- Response Strategies and Adaptive Measures to Potential Sea-Level Rise in The Gambia.- Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: A Challenge for Small Island Nations.- Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment of Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise in the Coastal Zone: A Perspective from the Netherlands and Bangladesh.- Adaptation to Climate Change in the Coastal Resources Sector of Bangladesh: Some Issues and Problems.- 5 Ecosystems and Forests.- Rapporteur's Statement.- A Study of Climate Change Impacts on the Forests of Venezuela.- Global Climate Change Adaptation: Examples from Russian Boreal Forests.- Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments of Forest Vegetation in Bulgaria.- Biodiversity and Wildlife: Adaptation to Climate Change.- 6 Fisheries.- Rapporteur's Statement.- Forecasting by Analogy: Local Responses to Global Climate Change.- Anticipated Effects of Climate Change on Commercial Pelagic and Artisanal Coastal Fisheries in the Federated States of Micronesia.- 7 Human Settlements.- Rapporteur's Statement.- Permafrost and Global Warming: Strategies of Adaptation.- Health Adaptations to Climate Change: Need for Far-Sighted, Integrated Approaches.