Changes in climate and climate variability have an effect on people's behaviour around the world, and public institutions have an important part to play in influencing our ability to respond to and plan for climate risk. We may be able to reduce climate risk by seeking to mitigate the threat on the one hand, and by adapting to a changed climate on the other. Another theme of the book is the integrated role of adaptation and mitigation in framing issues and performing analyses. Adaptation costs fall most heavily on the poor and special attention needs to be paid to adaptation by the poorest populations. An integrating framework is also presented to provide the context for an expansive typology of terms to apply to adaptation. The 12 papers collected here use methods from a variety of disciplines and focus on different time frames for decision making, from short term to the very long term. Readership: Technically trained readers familiar with the policy issues surrounding climate change and interested in learning the scientific underpinnings of issues related to societal adaptation.

Biometeorology continues to grow as a discipline. It is increasingly recognised for its importance in providing science of relevance to society and well being of the environment. This book is the first in a new book series on Biometeorology. The purpose of the new series is to communicate the interdisciplinary philosophy and science of biometeorology to as wide an audience as possible, introduce scientists and policy makers to the societal relevance of and recent developments in its s- fields and demonstrate how a biometeorological approach can provide insights to the understanding and possible solution of cross-cutting environmental issues. One such cross-cutting environmental issue is climate change. While the literature on the science of climate change, climate change mitigation and the impacts of climate change is voluminous, that on adaptation to climate change is meagre in comparison. The purpose of this book is to partly redress this imbalance by providing insights from a biometeorological perspective. The book acknowledges that society has a long history of adapting to the impacts associated with climatic variability and change but makes the point that climate change poses a real threat to already strained coping systems. Therefore there is a need to realign human use systems with changing climate conditions.

While major strides have been made in the scientific understanding of climate change, much less understood is how these dynamics in the physical enviornment interact with socioeconomic systems. This book brings together the latest knowledge on the consequences of climate change for society and how best to address them.

The Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has presented strong evidence that human-induced climate change is occurring and that all countries of the world will be affected and need to adapt to impacts. The IPCC points out that many developing countries are particularly vulnerable because of their relatively low adaptive capacity. Therefore it is seen as a development priority to help these countries enhance their adaptive capacity to climate change.The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Stratus Consulting organized a workshop in the fall of 2001 to develop an agenda for research on how best to enhance the capacity of developing countries to adapt to climate change. This research agenda is relevant for governments and institutions that wish to support developing countries in adapting to climate change. The workshop brought together experts from developing and industrialized countries, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral and bilateral donor organizations to discuss a number of important topics related to adaptation, adaptive capacity and sustainable development. A dozen papers were commissioned to cover these topics, both from a theoretical perspective and in the form of national case studies. The papers form the basis for this important book, which presents the latest interdisciplinary knowledge about the nature and components of adaptive capacity and how it may be strengthened./a

This book sets out how to ensure that adaptation efforts are socially and environmentally sustainable, contributing to poverty reduction as well as confronting the processes driving vulnerability. Over $100bn a year is pledged to help finance adaptation projects via the The Climate Adaptation Fund. These projects and their funding played a central role in the latest climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, ensuring that adaptation to climate change will be an international priority over the next few decades. Many existing adaptation projects are however, not environmentally or socially sustainable. Adaptation projects that focus on reducing specific climate sensitivities can, even if bringing benefits, adversely affect vulnerable groups and create social inequity, or even unintentionally undermine environmental integrity. Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change examines how adaptation to climate change (types of measures, policy frameworks, and local household strategies) interacts with social and environmental sustainability. A mixture of conceptual and case study-based papers draw on research from Europe, Asia and Africa. It will be of interest to all researchers and policymakers in climate change adaptation and development.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of climate variability and change in Africa, and includes impact assessments and case studies from integration frameworks, with a particular focus on climate, agriculture and water resources. Richly illustrated, the book highlights case studies from western, eastern and southern African region, and explores related development policies. Climate change adaptation research, prediction, and reanalysis are also addressed

Climate change poses multiple challenges to development. It affects lives and livelihoods, infrastructure and institutions, as well as beliefs, cultures and identities. There is a growing recognition that the social dimensions of vulnerability and adaptation now need to move to the forefront of development policies and practices. This book presents case studies showing that climate change is as much a problem of development as for development, with many of the risks closely linked to past, present and future development pathways. Development policies and practices can play a key role in addressing climate change, but it is critical to question to what extent such actions and interventions reproduce, rather than address, the social and political structures and development pathways driving vulnerability. The chapters emphasise that adaptation is about much more than a set of projects or interventions to reduce specific impacts of climate change; it is about living with change while also transforming the processes that contribute to vulnerability in the first place. This book will help students in the field of climate change and development to make sense of adaptation as a social process, and it will provide practitioners, policymakers and researchers working at the interface between climate change and development with useful insights for approaching adaptation as part of a larger transformation to sustainability.