Climate Change Adaptation Approaches Research Articles

Development of approaches for transport infrastructure adaptation to climatic change

Aim: Development of transport infrastructure adaptation for climatic change.
 Materials and Methods: The research method was the analysis of climate change adaptation approaches, climate change adaptation action programs, and adaptation plans at the local, regional and sectoral levels.
 Results: The proposed approach consists of an adaptation strategy and an implementation plan for the adaptation strategy to integrate climate change adaptation activities into existing management. The outcome of the development of approaches to the adaptation of the transport industry to climate change should be an adaptation strategy and plan.
 Conclusion: The iterative structure makes it possible to adjust adaptation measures, taking into account the refinement of climate change forecasts, socio-economic and technological changes. The proposed approach allows to determine the level of industry adaptation readiness for adaptation measures improving.

Can Managing Climate Risks Be a Catalyst for Broader Transformative Change?

This essay addresses the long-term effectiveness of urban climate change adaptation approaches, based, inter alia, on work in the C40 city network. We argue that in most cities, the dominant framing of climate risk management almost exclusively focuses on short-term incrementalities and preventive solutions directly tackling hazards, vulnerability, and exposure. This approach has serious flaws, leading to missed opportunities for longer-term sustainable urban development. Until very recently, climate science usually provided only a marginal input to long-term urban planning and design. We argue that any analysis of urban climate risk management and the associated climate services should be broadened beyond solely climate focusing on impacts. In this context, the development of positive urban visions is a key gap for both research and practice. A change is required from negatively addressing risks to positively pursuing a positive vision of attractive, resilient, and sustainable cities. The emphasis on short-term incremental solutions should shift towards long-term transformation. This embodies a paradigm shift from “function follows system” to “system follows function”. For many cities, this also means a change in procedural practice from siloed top-down to integrated, participatory urban transformation. Our main argument in this paper is that simple, longer-term sustainable urban transformation would not only reduce climate risks but also enhance overall environmental quality, economic opportunities, and social wellbeing.

Recent Trends of Mean Maximum and Minimum Air Temperatures in Bangladesh

The annual, seasonal, and monthly maximum and minimum air temperature time series for 34 stations in Bangladesh have been examined during the period 1981– 2020 in this study. Three statistical tests were used in the analysis namely Mann–Kendall, Sen’s slope estimator, and linear regression, respectively. 47% of stations experienced significantly rising maximum air temperature trends during the pre-monsoon, 100% during the monsoon, 74% during the post-monsoon, and 24% during the winter season, respectively. Similar findings have been made about minimum air temperatures during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter seasons in 41, 91, 41, and 35% of stations over Bangladesh. According to the linear regression technique, the significant increasing trends of the maximum air temperatures at Patuakhali and Mongla stations are 0.83°C/decade and 0.82°C/decade in February and October, respectively. Furthermore, at Sandwip and M. Court, the significant increasing minimum air temperature trends in July and March are 0.26°C/decade and 0.66°C/decade, respectively. The highest monthly maximum and minimum air temperature time series value falls (decreases) were seen in January over the stations at Mongla (-0.58°C/decade) and Sandwip (-0.63°C/decade), respectively. This information will be useful in developing adaptation plans to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change. Vulnerability assessments, disaster management, enhanced structure design, institutional reform, and antiextreme climate engineering are some of the viable climate change adaptation approaches in Bangladesh due to rising temperatures.

Consider the risks of bottom-up approaches for climate change adaptation

Consider the risks of bottom-up approaches for climate change adaptation

Satellite-based silica mapping as an essential mineral for clean energy transition: Remote sensing mineral exploration as a climate change adaptation approach

One of the most important challenges in facing climate changes is transition to clean energy to reduce the warm gases emissions. The technologies of clean energy transition require more mineral resources than the traditional fossil fuel methods. The present study sheds the light on the role of mineral exploration using remote sensing techniques to fulfill the requirements of the clean energy technologies from mineral resources. In this study, the capabilities of ASTER data in mapping silica (an essential mineral for solar energy technologies) were demonstrated. Two case study areas with different geological environments of silica-rich rock units were studied. The Faiyum area contains sedimentary silica-rich rock units; mainly white sand, sandstone, and sand dunes. While the Higlig-Suwayqat area contains basement silica-rich rock units; mainly quartz plugs and veins included in the granitic rocks. Two remote sensing techniques; Band ratio (BR), and Constrained Energy Minimization (CEM) supervised classification techniques were applied to the ASTER surface reflectance. Several ASTER band ratios were tested; the ratio of b14/b12 was found the most effective band ratio for delineating the silica-rich areas. On the other hand, the CEM technique was applied using the USGS spectral signature of quartz mineral. CEM technique enabled mapping the pixels that have similar signatures to the input quartz signature as silica-rich areas. A field study was conducted in both the studied case areas to validate the remote sensing results; several silica-rich units were observed including; white sand, sandstone, sand dunes, quartz plugs/veins, and sand-rich wadi deposits. Based on the distribution of the silica-rich units mapped by both the adopted techniques as compared to the field observations, it is found that the accuracy of both the techniques is very high with an advantage of the CEM technique over the BR technique.

Overview of Methods for Assessing Loss and Damage Associated with Climate Change

Loss and damage (L&D) caused by climate change (CC) has been defined as inevitable/unavoidable losses after the implementation of mitigation and adaptation measures. As climate change continue to be complicated and unpredictable, L&D will increase, especially for highly vulnerable countries like Vietnam. Therefore, the assessment of L&D caused by climate change is very important and necessary. This article presents the results of an overview of L&D assessment methods applied in the world. The review showed that, L&D assessment have either disaster risk reduction (DRR) or climate change adaptation (CCA) approach and is classified in qualitative and quantitative assessments or ex-ante and ex-post assessment. In general, the methods of assessing L&D caused by natural disasters have been developed and guided, whereas the methods of assessing L&D by climate change adaptation approach have not been popularly developed. Currently, the most popular method is still ex-post assessment while the models for evaluating/forecasting L&D in the future have not been widely applied in practice. The quantitative assessment of economic L&D is often applied for the ex-post assessment, while the qualitative assessment is often used for ex-ante assessment and applied to non-economic L&D.

Estimating Pruning-Caused Loss on Ecosystem Services of Air Pollution Removal and Runoff Avoidance

Trees provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) and are generally considered an important natural-based approach for climate change adaptation and mitigation. In urban areas, proper pruning practices can help enhance ES provided by trees, but in areas with issues of typhoons or storms, routinely intensive pruning may reduce ES. Therefore, it is critical to determine proper pruning intensity in balancing the ES provision and life/property protection. With the aim of promoting sustainable urban forestry management, we applied the i-Tree Eco to quantify ES and ES values of air pollution removal and runoff avoidance provided by a total of 87,014 Taipei street trees and developed an analytical method to estimate the potential loss caused by different pruning intensities. Based on the i-Tree Eco estimates, the Taipei street trees on average provide ES values of air pollution removal and runoff avoidance at $2.31 and $1.87 USD/tree/y, respectively. By changing the ratio of crown missing as a surrogate for different pruning intensities, we found that with a less than 25% pruning intensity, the decline ratio of ES values was relatively constant, and the potential loss was estimated at $0.47 USD/tree/y at the 25% pruning intensity. As such, in general maintenance situations, we recommend a less than 25% pruning intensity. However, during typhoon or monsoon seasons, a less than 45% pruning intensity is suggested to balance the ES provision and public safety with an estimated loss at $0.96 USD/tree/y. We also suggest creating visualization maps incorporating the potential ES and the local in situ environmental and tree conditions at a community level to support decision making for a more comprehensive management plan. Based on the framework and method developed in this study, the science-based information can be used to assist maintenance practices and highlight the potential ES values to be enhanced by choosing proper pruning intensity for a more sustainable future.

The strengths and weaknesses of future visioning approaches for climate change adaptation: A review

Adaptation to climate change is about planning for the future while responding to current pressures and challenges. Adaptation scientists are increasingly using future visioning exercises embedded in co-production and co-development techniques to assist stakeholders in imagining futures in a changing climate. Even if these exercises are growing in popularity, surprisingly little scrutiny has been placed on understanding the fundamental assumptions and choices in scenario approaches, timeframes, scales, or methods, and whether they result in meaningful changes in how adaptation is being thought about. Here, we unpack key insights and experiences across 62 case studies that specifically report on using future visioning exercises to engage stakeholders in climate change adaptation. We focus on three key areas: 1) Stakeholder diversity and scales; 2) Tools, methods, and data, and 3) Practical constraints, enablers, and outcomes. Our results show that most studies focus on the regional scale (n = 32; 52%), involve mainly formal decision makers and employ vast array of different methods, tools, and data. Interestingly, most exercises adopt either predictive (what will happen) and explorative (what could happen) scenarios while only a fraction use the more normative (what should happen) scenarios that could enable more transformative thinking. Reported positive outcomes include demonstrated increases in climate change literacy and support for climate change adaptation planning. Unintended and unexpected outcomes include increased anxiety in cases where introduced timeframes go beyond an individual’s expected life span and decreased perceived necessity for undertaking adaptation at all. Key agreed factors that underpin co-production and equal representation, such as gender, age, and diversity, are not well reported, and most case studies do not use reflective processes to harness participant feedback that could enable more robust methodology development. This is a missed opportunity in developing a more fundamental understanding of how these exercises can effectively shift individual and collective mindsets and advance the inclusion of different viewpoints as a pathway for more equitable and just climate adaptation.

Diverse more‐than‐human approaches to climate change adaptation in Thai Binh, Vietnam

Climate change adaptation is a key shared endeavour of our time. In Thai Binh Province of Vietnam, rice farmers have been adapting to environmental change for generations and have developed sophisticated strategies of paying attention to non‐human entities. Such strategies stand in stark contrast to modernist, developmentalist climate change adaptation interventions prioritising mastery and control over the environment. In this article, we think about farmers and other species ‘surviving well’ in the context of climate change adaptation in Thai Binh. We examine the strategies for adaptation already present and the implications of such strategies for climate change adaptation approaches in Vietnam and further afield. We argue that local practices of listening to non‐human entities and imagining them as kin can challenge modernist developmentalist approaches to adaptation, providing innovative locally appropriate adaptations. Beyond this, such practices can lead the way in developing non‐exploitative and mutually beneficial relationships in ‘more‐than‐human’ ecological communities for long‐term survival.

Rainfall and Temperature Trends in Jagtial District of Telangana State

Aims: To investigate and assess the significance of the potential trend of two variables viz. rainfall, temperature in Jagtial district of Telangana state.
 Place and Duration of Study: Data of Daily rainfall and temperature data of 39 years (1980-2019) collected from the meteorological observatory at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Polasa, Jagtial.
 Methodology: In this study, trend analysis has been carried out on monthly, seasonal and annual basis using the data period between 1980 to 2019 for rainfall and temperature. Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimate test were applied to identify the existing trend direction and magnitude of change over time.
 Results: The rainfall seasonal trend analysis indicates that pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon and winter period showed a negative rainfall trend with z statistics of-1.47, -2.51, -0.55 and-1.38 respectively. However, the annual rainfall showed a negative trend with a z value of -2.53. In the case of Sen’s slope shows that negative trend in monthly, seasonal and annual rainfall. But the significant rising trend of monthly, seasonal average temperature is noticed from 1980 onwards. The annual average maximum temperature in the Jagtial showed an increasing trend (Z value +5.03). An increasing trend in the all seasons will lead to increase in annual mean temperature. The results of minimum temperature shows a rising trend and falling trend observed Monthly. However annual mean minimum temperature in the Jagtial District showed an increasing trend (Z value 0.10). In the case of maximum temperature for the observed period, it showed rising trend (Sen's slope = 0.63) while the minimum temperature trend showed no trend (Sen's slope = 0.02).
 Conclusion: Time series was carried out using nonparametric M–K test and Sen's slope estimator, which are widely used tests for conducting trend analysis. Therefore, its take into think about the rainfall variability in particular and temperature variability in general of the area into their climate change adaptation approach.

The Responsibility of Community Sustainability from the Frontlines of Climate Change

Bahamian communities are vulnerably positioned on the frontlines of climate change due to global warming. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Global South, including The Bahamas, have been identified as especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their unique characteristics. There is now a pressing need for sustainable community development that involves a cross-disciplinary, climate change adaptation approach that promotes resilience strengthening. This type of planning strategy was needed in the preparation and implementation of emergency shelters before the passing of Hurricane Dorian and in the ongoing rebuilding efforts of communities post-Dorian. Further, the way in which key stakeholders engage with these activities has implications on The Bahamas’ capacity for climate change resilience. This paper will identify gaps in adaptation processes within Dorian-hit redevelopment and the national system of sheltering and evacuation. It goes on to argue the need for social equity in planning for the protection of vulnerable communities, inclusive of informal settlements like those destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in North Abaco. Lastly, this paper will make recommendations toward Bahamian climate change resilience.

Afforesting Icelandic land: A promising approach for climate-smart forestry?

Climate-smart forestry (CSF) is considered a promising approach for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, as highlighted in several European policy documents. This paper describes a prospective approach to introducing an incentive-based scheme to facilitate the implementation of CSF through a case study in Iceland. It is argued that the payments for ecosystem services (PES) scheme allows for effective CSF management and long-term sustainability if introduced in compliance with local, cultural, and social values. In a case study of an Icelandic afforestation programme, we conducted an institutional analysis of the PES scheme and assessed its effect on the sustainable provision of forest ecosystem services for the long term. We provide preliminary findings on the application of CSF in the 30-year-old Icelandic afforestation programme scheme. The perspectives of forest and policy experts, as well as local farmers participating in the scheme, were crucial for assessing the effectiveness of PES scheme performance in Iceland.

Nursery habitat use by juvenile blue crabs in created and natural fringing marshes

Climate change and coastal development pressures have intensified the need for shoreline protection. Nature-first approaches that use natural habitats, particularly marshes, are being promoted globally as ecologically-beneficial alternatives to grey infrastructure. The ability of these novel shorelines to provide nursery habitat to blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), an ecologically and economically important species along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, has not been fully evaluated. We quantified the abundance and size distribution of juvenile blue crabs from a chronosequence of living shorelines (created fringing marshes) spanning 2 to 16 years in age since construction compared with paired natural fringing marshes in the southern Chesapeake Bay. Both created and natural fringing marshes are used by blue crabs as primary nursery habitats. Despite interannual differences in abundance, young blue crabs (≤ 2.5 cm carapace width) were observed in similar densities and sizes at living shoreline and natural marshes. The age of the living shoreline was not related to blue crab density, indicating that even the youngest living shorelines (2 years) provided nursery habitat. The potential for living shorelines to serve as nursery habitat for an economically important species may provide additional incentive to implement these nature-based approaches for climate change adaptation.

An Evaluation on Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Approach

Küresel çapta son yıllarda yaşanan afetlerin sayı, sıklık ve şiddetinde önemli artışlar gözlemlenmektedir. Bu afetler içinde iklim değişikliğiyle ilişkili aşırı hava olaylarına bağlı meteorolojik ve hidrolojik afetlerin sayısındaki artış ise en fazla sayıda ve etki alanı en yüksek olandır. İklim değişikliğinin olumsuz sonuçlarının ülke sınırlarını aşan yapısı ve ekonomik, çevresel ve sosyal bağlamdaki etkileri, iklim ile ilişkilendirilen afetlerin beraberinde doğal, biyolojik ve teknolojik afetlerin de ortaya çıkmasını kaçınılmaz kılmaktadır. Bu afetlerden ise çoğunlukla toplumların en kırılgan kesimleri ve mücadele kapasitesi yeterli olmayan gelişmekte olan ülkeler daha fazla etkilenmektedir. Bu sorunlarla etkin bir biçimde mücadele edilmesinde günümüzde bütünleşik afet risk azaltımı ve iklim değişikliğine uyum yaklaşımının geliştirilmesine ilişkin çalışmalar giderek artmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, birbirinden bağımsız süreçlerde yürütülen afet riski azaltımı ve iklim değişikliğine uyum eylemlerine bütünleşik bir yaklaşım geliştirmenin ortaya çıkaracağı sonuçların değerlendirilmesidir. Çalışmada bütünleşik iklim değişikliğine uyum ve afet riski azaltımı yaklaşımının kaynakların, idari ve beşerî kapasitenin etkin kullanılmasını, ölçek ekonomisi oluşturarak mali kaynakların doğru alanlara yönlendirilmesini sağlayacağı ve BM sözleşmelerinde ve belgelerinde yer alan hedeflerin gerçekleştirilmesi bağlamında önemli faydaları olduğu sonuçları elde edilmiştir.

\u201cListening to the Sounds of the Water\u201d: Bringing Together Local Knowledge and Biophysical Data to Understand Climate-Related Hazard Dynamics

Integrating local knowledge and scientific information can aid in co-developing locally relevant approaches for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Communities along the Mekong River have adapted to variability in temperature, rainfall, and flooding patterns over time. Rapid environmental change in the Mekong Basin presents a new set of challenges related to drought, altered seasonal rainfall, more frequent high-flow flood events, and water withdrawals for hydropower and irrigation. We present a multi-method approach to understand how local knowledge of the spatial and temporal patterns of floods, droughts, and rainfall can be integrated with scientific information along a flood-prone section of the lower Mekong River in Kratie Province, Cambodia. Participatory hazard mapping of community members’ knowledge of the movement of floodwaters through the landscape enabled interpretation of flood extent mapping using Synthetic Aperture Radar images from the Sentinel-1A satellite. Seasonal calendars of weather patterns and livelihood activities, together with local indicators of flooding, rainfall, and drought were compared with trends in 35 years of rainfall data, and highlighted “pressure points” at the beginning and end of the rainy season where agriculture may be particularly impacted by climate change. We discuss potential applications of our findings for adaptation and hazard planning.

Urban greenspace as a climate change adaptation strategy for subtropical Asian cities: A comparative study across cities in three countries

Interest in nature-based approaches for climate change adaptation in cities is growing. Whilst there is a growing field of scholarship in a European and North America setting, research on the policy and governance of urban greenspace for climate adaptation in subtropical Asia is limited. Given the different development patterns, environmental characteristics and governance arrangements in subtropical cities, plus their comparatively large population and high climate risk, this is a significant knowledge gap. In response, this paper evaluates competences – skill sets, capabilities, and supporting policy and legislation – to enact adaptation through greenspace across different governance contexts; and assesses how international rhetoric on nature-based adaptation becomes localised to subtropical Asian city settings. We conduct interviews with stakeholders, plus review of relevant policy and city-specific research, for three cities with different governance and development contexts: Hanoi (Vietnam); Taipei (Taiwan); and Fukuoka (Japan). Across all three cases, we find that institutional structures and processes for connecting different remits and knowledge systems are a bigger challenge than a lack of appropriate policy or individuals with the required technical knowledge. However, opportunities for civil society participation and consideration of justice issues vary between the cities according to the socio-political context. These findings illustrate the value of individuals and organisations able to work across institutional boundaries in linking greenspace and adaptation agendas for subtropical Asian cities; and the importance of competence in collaboration with developers and civil society so that the rapid development or regeneration seen in subtropical Asian contexts does not tend towards green climate gentrification. More broadly, our findings show that the diverse nature of subtropical Asian cities means the role of greenspace in climate adaptation is likely to be context-specific, and thus that caution must be exercised against uncritically importing best practices from exemplar cases elsewhere.

Sustainable Territories Adapted to the Climate: Insights from a New University Course Designed and Delivered in Guatemala

Since 2014, the CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security has collaborated with different stakeholders to implement climate change adaptation approaches and practices in critical locations in the Central American Dry Corridor. A new university course for professionals in the Dry Corridor aims to scale these approaches and practices. This article presents the core elements of the course, summarizes the main results, and offers recommendations for future editions. It was observed that the different trajectories and experiences of professionals participating in the first edition of the course facilitated a lively exchange of knowledge, the integration of local experiences in teaching, and the integration of learning in follow up proposals of governmental and non-governmental organizations. The following aspects should be central in future course editions: diversity of participants, adaptation of didactic strategies to the needs of different users, and follow-up support, as well as the integration of course concepts and practices in the actions of different organizations. The latter requires strong organizational commitment.

Towards climate resilient urban energy systems: a review.

Climate change and increased urban population are two major concerns for society. Moving towards more sustainable energy solutions in the urban context by integrating renewable energy technologies supports decarbonizing the energy sector and climate change mitigation. A successful transition also needs adequate consideration of climate change including extreme events to ensure the reliable performance of energy systems in the long run. This review provides an overview of and insight into the progress achieved in the energy sector to adapt to climate change, focusing on the climate resilience of urban energy systems. The state-of-the-art methodology to assess impacts of climate change including extreme events and uncertainties on the design and performance of energy systems is described and discussed. Climate resilience is an emerging concept that is increasingly used to represent the durability and stable performance of energy systems against extreme climate events. However, it has not yet been adequately explored and widely used, as its definition has not been clearly articulated and assessment is mostly based on qualitative aspects. This study reveals that a major limitation in the state-of-the-art is the inadequacy of climate change adaptation approaches in designing and preparing urban energy systems to satisfactorily address plausible extreme climate events. Furthermore, the complexity of the climate and energy models and the mismatch between their temporal and spatial resolutions are the major limitations in linking these models. Therefore, few studies have focused on the design and operation of urban energy infrastructure in terms of climate resilience. Considering the occurrence of extreme climate events and increasing demand for implementing climate adaptation strategies, the study highlights the importance of improving energy system models to consider future climate variations including extreme events to identify climate resilient energy transition pathways.

New Policy Approaches for Increasing Response to Climate Change in Small Rural Municipalities

Although nearly half of the world population lives in rural small municipalities, research on climate change policy at this level is widely neglected. Frequently climate change adaptation is not a policy field in these small municipalities, which is both a problem and a risk. This paper aims at analyzing the climate policy of small and medium-sized local authorities with specific focus on adaptation. It presents results from a comprehensive survey among approximately 400 small municipalities in Bavaria, Germany. The study analyzes the perception of climate change risks and the perceived need for response, the fields of action, the triggering and influencing factors in the political process, and the people and bodies involved. Our findings reveal that in most cases small municipalities do not follow a strategic and holistic approach for climate change adaptation. Especially among small and very small municipalities, the study shows a gap between discussing climate change and setting up mitigation or adaptation measures. In conclusion, we present three policy implications for increasing the adaptive capacity of small municipalities. These address the increase of awareness of adaptation needs, effective management structures and the mandatory integration of a climate strategy into the long-term local political agenda.

Identifying climate refugia for 30 Australian rainforest plant species, from the last glacial maximum to 2070

Climate refugia—areas that remain suitable for species during periods of climate disruption—have played an important role in species persistence over time. Identifying and protecting these refugia is a key climate change adaptation approach for conservation planning. To identify climate refugia for Australian tropical/sub-tropical rainforest flora, from the Last Glacial Maximum to 2070. Habitat suitability models were calibrated for 30 species using Maxent, and projected onto climate data for: Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ~ 22,000 ybp); mid-Holocene (MH, ~ 6000 ybp); current period; and 2070. The intersection of suitable habitat over consecutive periods was assessed, identifying: current refugia (LGM–MH–Current); future refugia (Current–Future); and High Value Refugia (HVR, suitable over all four periods). Refugial hotspots (regions suitable for at least 15 species) were also identified. Suitable habitat was generally projected to span the greatest area in the current period. Four current refugial hotspots were identified: Wet Tropics, Central Mackay Coast, South Eastern Queensland, and North Coast (New South Wales). While suitable habitat for most species may decline in the future, HVRs will likely be retained for all species to at least 2070, although restricted in size. Future refugia was also projected in areas beyond species’ dispersal ranges. HVRs are highly important for the conservation of these rainforest species, given their generation times, limited dispersal capabilities and additional anthropogenic barriers to movement. This study assists in understanding long-term spatial shifts in rainforest flora in response to climate change and in designing future conservation strategies.