scholarly journals A risk-based approach to evaluating northeast US fish community vulnerability to climate change

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (8) ◽  
pp. 2323-2342 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. Gaichas ◽  
J. S. Link ◽  
J. A. Hare

Abstract Risk assessment methods are used worldwide to evaluate threats posed by fisheries and other impacts on living marine resources, and to prioritize management of these threats. We derive a simplified risk analysis for aggregate fish communities as a preliminary tool to identify priorities for further detailed assessment. Because some of the largest observed rates of sea surface temperature increase are on the northeast US continental shelf, we focused on climate change-driven risks to marine communities in this region. We evaluated climate vulnerability for six communities across two ecosystems: both commercial and non-commercial demersal fish, pelagic fish, and benthic invertebrates in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and Mid-Atlantic bight (MAB). We first evaluated the probability that anticipated climate changes (e.g. warming water, decreased salinity, increased acidity, altered boundary currents) would occur in these regions, and rated the potential severity of change over the next 10 years. Then, we evaluated the sensitivity of each biological community in each region using 12 attributes (e.g. habitat and prey specificity, temperature and acidity sensitivity, larval dispersal, adult mobility, population productivity, etc.). Exposure to the key climate risks was related to community sensitivity in each region for an overall assessment of climate vulnerability. Climate risks from increased surface water temperature, sea level rise, and earlier spring were rated moderate to high in both regions, with additional moderate to high risks in the GOM from increased bottom temperature, stratification, and river inputs. Benthic invertebrates were rated most sensitive, with demersals intermediate and pelagics lowest. Two MAB communities were rated more sensitive than corresponding GOM communities, but greater short-term climate risks in the GOM indicated increased exposure for GOM communities. Overall, this simple analysis may help prioritize short-term regional climate risk management action, thus addressing key conditions related to fishery fluctuations beyond fishing itself.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-163
Author(s):  
Kapil Dhungana ◽  
Harish Bahadur Chand ◽  
Dinesh Bhandari ◽  
Abhishek Kumar ◽  
Sanjay Singh ◽  
...  

The current study uses the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change livelihood vulnerability index (IPCC-LVI) approaches to assess household’s livelihood vulnerability in the Dipang watershed located in the Central Himalayan region of Nepal. Primary data was collected through various participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools such as direct observation, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs) and household surveys. Similarly, data on climatic variables were collected from the nearby meteorological station over 30 years (1987-2018). The mean annual average temperature increased by 0.036°C while the average rainfall decreased by 2.30 mm. Respondents perceived a similar trend of rising temperatures, decreasing rainfall intensity, dryness in the atmosphere, and dwindling water sources. The overall LVI score (0.416) indicated that the households are vulnerable to climate change. Food (0.642) and natural disasters and climate variability (0.566) were the most vulnerable among all contributing factors. Similarly, the overall LVI-IPCC score (0.104) indicated that the households were moderately vulnerable due to high exposure (0.566), sensitivity (0.448), and low adaptive capacity (0.334). The study findings suggest an urgent need to reduce high exposure to climate risks, improved livelihood strategies, and boost agricultural productivity and health in the watershed area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 172-183
Author(s):  
Gabriel Földes ◽  
Silvia Kohnová ◽  
Marija Mihaela Labat ◽  
Kamila Hlavčová

The paper focuses on the impact of climate change on runoff in the Ipoltica River basin in northern Slovakia. The analysis is divided into two parts: the first part contains an analysis of predicted changes in short-term rainfall intensities at the Liptovská Teplička climatological station; the second part is focused on the impact of runoff on a small mountainous river basin. The predicted short-term rainfall intensities were analyzed using the Community Land Model, which is a Regional Climate Model. The analysis was performed in durations of 60 to 1440 minutes for a warm period. The focus was aimed at comparing changes in rainfall characteristics, especially changes in seasonality, the scaling exponents, and design values. The second part focuses on the impact of changes in short-term rainfall on changes in runoff. The estimation of predicted runoff changes was provided for the period 2070 - 2100. These results were compared with the results from actual observations. The design floods were calculated using the Soil Conservation Service - Curve Number method. The results show that the runoff will be affected by climate change. Hence, it is important to reevaluate the land use management and practices at the Ipoltica River basin.


2020 ◽  
Vol 162 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Fatorić ◽  
Robbert Biesbroek

Abstract Climate change is currently impacting cultural heritage globally. Despite advances in the understanding of the relationship between climate change impacts and cultural heritage, there are significant barriers that hamper adaptation of cultural heritage to current and projected climate risks. This paper aims to advance the empirical understanding of barriers to adapting cultural heritage to climate-related impacts in the Netherlands by identifying different barriers, their interdependencies, and possible strategies to overcome these barriers. Using a web-based questionnaire with 57 experts, we find that the most frequently reported barriers are a lack of climate change adaptation policy for cultural heritage, and lack of climate vulnerability and risk assessments for diverse cultural heritage types. Our study finds that barriers are perceived to be interdependent and conjointly constrain adapting cultural heritage to climate change. Six actionable strategies are identified to navigate these barriers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 169 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Feldmeyer ◽  
Joern Birkmann ◽  
Joanna M. McMillan ◽  
Lindsay Stringer ◽  
Walter Leal Filho ◽  
...  

AbstractClimate change impacts and their consequences are determined not only by the intensity and frequency of different climatic hazards but also by the vulnerability of the system, society or community exposed. While general agreement exists about the importance of assessing vulnerability to understand climate risks, there is still a tendency to neglect global and regional vulnerability patterns because they are hard to quantify, despite their value in informing adaptation, disaster risk and development policies. Several approaches to quantifying global vulnerability exist. These differ in terms of the indicators they use and how they classify countries or regions into vulnerability classes. The paper presents the structure of selected approaches and explores two indices in depth. The aim of this paper is to assess the level of agreement between selected international indicator-based assessments of vulnerability, at the level of climate regions. Results suggest that the two major global vulnerability assessments analysed largely agree on the location of the most and least vulnerable regions when these assessments are aggregated to a regional scale using the IPCC’s climate regions. The paper then discusses the robustness of the information derived and its usefulness for adaptation, disaster risk and development policies. Measuring progress towards reducing vulnerability to climate change and hazards is key for various agencies and actors in order to be able to develop informed policies and strategies for managing climate risks and to promote enabling conditions for achieving the SDGs and building resilience.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Berrang-Ford ◽  
Alexandra Lesnikowski ◽  
A. Paige Fischer ◽  
A.R. Siders ◽  
Katharine J. Mach ◽  
...  

Abstract Context: It is now widely accepted that the climate is changing, and that societal responses will need to be rapid and comprehensive to prevent the most severe impacts. A key milestone in global climate governance is to assess progress on adaptation. To-date, however, there has been negligible robust, systematic synthesis of progress on adaptation or adaptation-relevant responses globally. Aim: The purpose of this review protocol is to outline the methods used by the Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative (GAMI) to systematically review human adaptation responses to climate-related changes that have been documented globally since 2013 in the scientific literature. The broad question underpinning this review is: Are we adapting to climate change? More specifically, we ask ‘what is the evidence relating to human adaptation-related responses that can (or are) directly reducing risk, exposure, and/or vulnerability to climate change?’ This work responds to the recognition of the need for high-level syntheses of adaptation research to inform global and regional climate assessments.Methods: We review scientific literature 2013-2019 to identify documents empirically reporting on observed adaptation-related responses to climate change in human systems that can directly reduce risk. We exclude non-empirical (theoretical & conceptual) literature and adaptation in natural systems that occurs without human intervention. Included documents were coded across a set of questions focused on: Who is responding? What responses are documented? What is the extent of the adaptation-related response? What is the evidence that adaptation-related responses reduce risk, exposure and/or vulnerability? Once articles are coded, we conduct a quality appraisal of the coding and develop ‘evidence packages’ for regions and sectors. We supplement this systematic mapping with an expert elicitation exercise, undertaken to assess bias and validity of insights from included/coded literature vis a vis perceptions of real-world adaptation for global regions and sectors, with associated confidence assessments. Related protocols: This protocol represents Part 1 of a 5-part series outlining the phases of methods for this initiative. Part 1 provides an introduction to the Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative (GAMI) and an overview of methods.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Claire Napawan ◽  
Sheryl-Ann Simpson ◽  
Brett Snyder

In light of the socio-ecological complexities associated with climate vulnerability, planning for community resilience will require participatory techniques to engage those most vulnerable. In particular, youth set to inherit the predicted impacts of climate change must be engaged with the processes that determine the future of their built environments. Drawing from existing literature on youth-based participatory planning and climate engagement, this paper presents an alternative process for engaging youth in climate resilience planning by employing digital technology as a tool for youth-based evaluations of existing built environments. Using the pilot project #OurChangingClimate as a case study, the authors propose a new model for engaging youth with an understanding of their communities and their resilience or vulnerability to climate change. The article details the use of social media and digital narratives as tools for participatory resilience planning and presents some of the preliminary content generated in four pilot youth workshops held from 2015–2017. Lastly, implications of youth-generated content on climate resilience planning are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 761-777
Author(s):  
Mahak Agrawal

PurposeThe idea is to propagate the concept of climate resilience in India beyond international mandates and bold statements, enabled through utilization of open data. The research underscores need for climate responsive planning for megacities in India with an example of National Capital Territory of Delhi, the capital of India whose trends and policies often form a blueprint for others to follow.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted in six distinct, yet inter-related stages: literature review, data collection, data analysis at four levels – city, zonal, planning division and flood plains inhabited by climate vulnerable population with least adaptive capacity, formulating alternative scenarios of future development, evaluation of scenarios, conclusions and recommendations.FindingsIndia has approximately 8,000 urban centres. Less than 2% of these centres have a planning document. Less than 1% of these documents acknowledge climate change as a phenomenon let alone a challenge to urban future. It is therefore a priority to address the challenge from a planning perspective for India.Research limitations/implicationsMethodologies for evaluating the multiplier effect are still in their pre-final stage and there exist uncertainties and margin of error.Practical implicationsAligned with pre-tested methodologies, the research through extensive empirical and spatial-temporal analysis indicates severity and irreversibility of socio-economic and environmental losses.Originality/valueRisks and vulnerabilities to climate change and climate induced disasters exhibit multiplier effect that varies spatially across a region's demography. Quantitative analysis of multiplier effect on the secondary environment is rarely explored in climate studies. The paper addresses this lacuna by examining climate risks to Indian megacities with a case example of Delhi. The findings suggest that urbanization, climate risks and natural environment are interlinked, where an impact of one generates ripples across other two and their secondary environment plus sectors.


Helia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (67) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Nedealcov ◽  
Maria Duca ◽  
Lidia Dencicov

AbstractCurrent climate change represents a serious threats to sustainable development by its accelerated its pace of manifestations and inability to adequately adapt to these changes. Increasing intensity and frequency of climate change’ related risk have conditioned the need to conduct a parallel study on the specifics of regional climate change and weather-climate risks’ manifestation. The results indicate that the financial damage caused by some climatic related risks in recent years can substantially destabilize the country’s economy.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260654
Author(s):  
Emily R. Farr ◽  
Michael R. Johnson ◽  
Mark W. Nelson ◽  
Jonathan A. Hare ◽  
Wendy E. Morrison ◽  
...  

Climate change is impacting the function and distribution of habitats used by marine, coastal, and diadromous species. These impacts often exacerbate the anthropogenic stressors that habitats face, particularly in the coastal environment. We conducted a climate vulnerability assessment of 52 marine, estuarine, and riverine habitats in the Northeast U.S. to develop an ecosystem-scale understanding of the impact of climate change on these habitats. The trait-based assessment considers the overall vulnerability of a habitat to climate change to be a function of two main components, sensitivity and exposure, and relies on a process of expert elicitation. The climate vulnerability ranks ranged from low to very high, with living habitats identified as the most vulnerable. Over half of the habitats examined in this study are expected to be impacted negatively by climate change, while four habitats are expected to have positive effects. Coastal habitats were also identified as highly vulnerable, in part due to the influence of non-climate anthropogenic stressors. The results of this assessment provide regional managers and scientists with a tool to inform habitat conservation, restoration, and research priorities, fisheries and protected species management, and coastal and ocean planning.


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