PrintThere are two broad categories of adaptation for us to understand:
- reactive adaptation - as the name implies, reactive adaptation measures are implemented only after we've seen or felt the initial impacts of climate change
- anticipatory adaptation - involves adaptation measures taken before the impacts are ever felt (we anticipate what they might be and respond proactively)
The Repetto reading for this week walks through adaptation by type quite nicely (which is why despite it being 11 years old, I'm using it - I can't find another paper that describes this so well). There are tradeoffs associated with each type of adaptation, as you might imagine.
- Which suite of measures do you think is more effective?
- Which one do you think is more expensive?
Be thinking about these questions as you work through the Repetto reading.
The table below lays this out pretty nicely to help you sort out where certain adaptation practices fall. What do you notice immediately? Natural systems can only respond reactively to climate change. The ability to anticipate and plan for these changes is uniquely human, and as such you could argue we have an even greater responsibility to prepare our natural systems for the changes on the horizon.
| Anticipatory | Reactive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural System |
Changes in length of growing Changes in ecosystem composition Wetland Mitigation |
||
| Human System | Public |
Early-Warning systems New Building codes, design standards Incentives for relocation |
Compensatory payments, subsidies Enforcement of building codes Reparation of protective structures |
| Private |
Purchase of insurances Adjustment of housing conditions to extreme weather events |
Changes in farm practices Changes in farm insurance premiums Purchase of air-conditioning (maladaptation) Production of artificial snow (maladaptation) |