There 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.
Reactive and Anticipatory Climate Change Adaptation Measures
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Reactive and Anticipatory Climate Change Adaptive Measures
|
|
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)
|
Credit: Klein, 2003