Even under the most optimistic scenarios, significant global climate change is now inevitable. While squarely confronting the scale of the risks we face, Building a Resilient Tomorrow presents replicable sustainability successes and clear-cut policy recommendations that can improve the climate resilience of communities in the US and beyond.

Climate resilience, or the capacity of socio-ecological systems to adapt and upkeep their functions when facing physical-chemical stress, is a key feature of ecosystems and communities. As the risks and impacts of climate change become more intense and more visible, there is a need to foster a broader understanding of both the impacts of these disruptions to food, water, and energy supplies and to increase resilience at the national and local level. The Handbook of Climate Change Resilience comprises a diverse body of knowledge, united in the objective of building climate resilience in both the industralised and the developing world. This unique publication will assist scientists, decision-makers and community members to take action to make countries, regions and cities more resilient.

Using the author’s extensive experience of advising public, private and non-profit sectors on personal, organization, and community behavioral and systems change knowledge and tools, this book applies a new lens to the question of how to respond to climate change. It offers a scientifically rigorous understanding of the negative mental health and psychosocial impacts of climate change and argues that overlooking these issues will have very damaging consequences. The practical assessment of various methods to build human resilience offered by Transformational Resilience then makes a powerful case for the need to quickly expand beyond emission reductions and hardening physical infrastructure to enhance the capacity of individuals and groups to cope with the inevitable changes affecting all levels of society.Applying a trauma-informed mental health and psychosocial perspective, Transformational Resilience offers a groundbreaking approach to responding to climate disruption. The book describes how climate disruption traumatizes societies and how effective responses can catalyze positive learning, growth, and change.

'Economic losses from natural disasters totaled $92 billion in 2015.' Such statements, all too commonplace, assess the severity of disasters by no other measure than the damage inflicted on buildings, infrastructure, and agricultural production. But $1 in losses does not mean the same thing to a rich person that it does to a poor person; the gravity of a $92 billion loss depends on who experiences it. By focusing on aggregate losses—the traditional approach to disaster risk—we restrict our consideration to how disasters affect those wealthy enough to have assets to lose in the first place, and largely ignore the plight of poor people. This report moves beyond asset and production losses and shifts its attention to how natural disasters affect people’s well-being. Disasters are far greater threats to well-being than traditional estimates suggest. This approach provides a more nuanced view of natural disasters than usual reporting, and a perspective that takes fuller account of poor people’s vulnerabilities. Poor people suffer only a fraction of economic losses caused by disasters, but they bear the brunt of their consequences. Understanding the disproportionate vulnerability of poor people also makes the case for setting new intervention priorities to lessen the impact of natural disasters on the world’s poor, such as expanding financial inclusion, disaster risk and health insurance, social protection and adaptive safety nets, contingent finance and reserve funds, and universal access to early warning systems. Efforts to reduce disaster risk and poverty go hand in hand. Because disasters impoverish so many, disaster risk management is inseparable from poverty reduction policy, and vice versa. As climate change magnifies natural hazards, and because protection infrastructure alone cannot eliminate risk, a more resilient population has never been more critical to breaking the cycle of disaster-induced poverty.

In Resilience: The Science of Adaptation to Climate Change leading experts analyze and question ongoing adaptation interventions. Contributions span different disciplinary perspectives, from law to engineering, and cover different regions from Africa to the Pacific. Chapters assess the need for adaptation, highlighting climate change impacts such as sea level rise, increases in temperature, changing hydrological variability, and threats to food security. The book then discusses the state of global legislation and means of tracking progress. It reviews ways to build resilience in a range of contexts— from the Arctic, to small island states, to urban areas, across food and energy systems. Critical tools for adaptation planning are highlighted - from social capital and ethics, to decision support systems, to innovative finance and risk transfer mechanisms. Controversies related to geoengineering and migration are also discussed. This book is an indispensable resource for scientists, practitioners, and policy makers working in climate change adaptation, sustainable development, ecosystem management, and urban planning. - Provides a summary of tools and methods used in adaptation including recent innovations - Includes chapters from a diverse range of authors from academic institutions, humanitarian organizations, and the United Nations - Evaluates adaptation options, highlighting gaps in knowledge where further research or new tools are needed

Climate change is affecting Indiana's environment, threatening the way Hoosiers live and do business, and introducing new stresses to the state's economy, health, and infrastructure. And while scientists predict more days of extreme weather, increased public health risks, and reduced agricultural production in the coming years, Hoosiers still have a substantial say in determining their future environment. Climate Change and Resilience in Indiana and Beyond confirms that Indiana can rise to meet this threat. The culmination of Indiana University's Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge, this collection showcases how scientists, policymakers, communicators, and others are working hard to protect Indiana's economy and way of life by becoming more resilient. Researchers are creating new environmental resilience frameworks, building on years of existing research on how ecosystems can adapt, how social systems process threats in order to change, and how individuals themselves fit into the larger picture. In addition to presenting research results, Climate Change and Resilience in Indiana and Beyond provides clear examples of how Hoosiers can make a difference by reducing risks, lessening the harmful impacts of climate change, and preparing for the unavoidable. What emerges in these pages is a hopeful, optimistic picture of how resilience is generalizable across systems—from forests to farms to cities—and how Hoosiers are mobilizing this resilience in the face of climate change.

This valuable book is a comprehensive volume on mangroves, with information accessible to both botany professionals and students. It provides an easy method of identifying mangroves and distinguishing one species from another. What is a mangrove and what are the criteria of mangroves are explained, along with descriptions of distinctions among major mangroves, mangrove associates, mangrove halophytes, and back mangals. Many photos and illustrations are provided, showing the visible features of mangroves. The volume also covers a range of other topics, including habitats and climatic conditions, morphological and reproductive features, how climate change is affecting mangroves and methods of mitigation and conservation. This book is about mangroves, the intertidal coastal forests that struggle every moment against hungry tides because mangroves flourish at the interface zone of land and sea. Like an evergreen forest in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, mangroves form definite coastal vegetation, providing protection to people living in such fragile zones against the occurrence of frequent natural calamities. Key features: Introduces important facts about mangroves: definition, early records of mangroves, categorization, and more Looks at the distribution of mangroves worldwide along with features of mangrove habitats and climatic conditions Describes the ecology and environmental conditions, particularly the concept of intertidal zones along estuary positions where tidal flows inundate mangroves Discusses the distinct morphological attributes and reproductive phenology of major mangroves Details the attributes of mangroves, covering a total of 78 species of intertidal flora, including 32 true mangroves, along with their diagnostic features, salient attributes, and illustrations for easy identification Highlights the burning environmental issue of climate change and its impact on mangroves Provides a variety of methods of restoration, conservation, and protection of mangroves