scholarly journals Compensating Water Service Interruptions to Implement a Safe-to-Fail Approach to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Water Supply

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1540
Author(s):  
Rafael Undurraga ◽  
Sebastián Vicuña ◽  
Oscar Melo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Active Agent ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Service Interruptions ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Climate Hazards

A city resilient to climate change is characterized by effectively responding to and recovering from the negative impacts of climate hazards. In the city of Santiago, Chile, extreme weather that can be associated with a nascent manifestation of climate change has caused high-turbidity events, repeatedly forcing the main water company to interrupt the supply of drinking water, affecting millions of people. This study proposes a transformative response to reduce harm from extreme events due to climate change. The traditional approach of increasing resilience through large infrastructure works can be complemented by one-off reductions in water use during emergencies, in exchange for economic compensation. This alternative seeks to transfer the individual responsibility of water companies to a collective one, where the community is an active agent that reduces damage in the face of extreme events resulting from climate change. In the assessment of this response, we used a choice experiment to estimate the minimum amount users are willing to accept in compensation for water service interruptions. The results show that willingness to accept compensation is significant (close to 0.6 USD/hour) and decreases when users have experienced additional unplanned interruptions. The aggregate cost of the compensation is lower than infrastructure investments required to avoid service interruptions under various future hypothetical hydroclimatic scenarios associated with climate change impacts. Therefore, compensation-based instruments for water service interruptions could be a more flexible and cost-effective alternative to infrastructure-based measures to cope with future climate hazards.

5. Climate change impacts

2021 ◽  
pp. 64-89
Author(s):  
Mark Maslin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Shifting Baseline ◽  
Dangerous Climate Change

‘Climate change impacts’ assesses the potential impacts of climate change and how these alter in scale and intensity with increasing warming by breaking down the potential impacts into sectors: extreme heat and droughts, storms and floods, agriculture, ocean acidification, biodiversity, and human health. Policy-makers should identify what dangerous climate change is. We need a realistic target concerning the degree of climate change with which we can cope. Fortunately, the societal coping range is flexible and can change with the shifting baseline and the more frequent extreme events—as long as there is strong climate science to provide clear guidance on what sort of changes are going to occur.

scholarly journals Potential Applications of 5G Network Technology for Climate Change Control: A Scoping Review of Singapore

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9720
Author(s):  
Ghasan Fahim Huseien ◽  
Kwok Wei Shah
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Everyday Objects ◽  
Clean Environment ◽  
5G Network ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Network Technologies

Climate change is one of the most challenging problems that humanity has ever faced. With the rapid development in technology, a key feature of 5G networks is the increased level of connectivity between everyday objects, facilitated by faster internet speeds with smart facilities indicative of the forthcoming 5G-driven revolution in Internet of Things (IoT). This study revisited the benefits of 5G network technologies to enhance the efficiency of the smart city and minimize climate change impacts in Singapore, thus creating a clean environment for healthy living. Results revealed that the smart management of energy, wastes, water resources, agricultures, risk factors, and the economy adopted in Singapore can remarkably contribute to reducing climate change, thus attaining the sustainability goals. Hence, future studies on cost-effective design and implementation are essential to increase the focus on the smart city concept globally.

scholarly journals Towards Applying Climate Change Adaptation

2017 ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Schmidt-Thomé
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Feasible Solutions

Climate change adaptation has been growing in importance since the beginning of the 21st century. Historically adaptation, not to climate change but to extreme events, was deeply rooted in many societies and their land-use structures. With industrialization, and especially the increase in globalization since the 1990’s the importance of appropriate adaptation has slowly decreased, leading to increased exposure and risks of human settlements in areas potentially affected by climate change impacts (e.g. sea level rise) and / or extreme events (natural hazards). In order to implement climate change adaptation sustainably feasible solutions should be identified, i.e. viable and acceptable from socio-economic point of views. The identification of such feasible solutions goes beyond pure scientific analysis but incorporates stakeholders, decision-makers and local knowledge.

scholarly journals Understanding the Knowledge and Data Landscape of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in the Chesapeake Bay Region: A Systematic Review

Climate ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Daniel Teodoro ◽  
Bruce Nairn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Level Ii ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Climate Hazards ◽  
Adaptive Policies ◽  
Municipal Level

Climate change is increasingly threatening coastal communities around the world. This article reviews the literature on climate change impacts and adaptation in the Chesapeake Bay region (USA). We reviewed both climate impacts and adaptation literature (n = 283) published in the period 2007–2018 to answer the questions: (i) how are indicators of climate impacts measured and reported by different types of authors (e.g., scientists, government, and NGOs), document types (e.g., academic articles or reports), and geographic focus (e.g., State, region, county, or municipal level)? (ii) what are the current approaches for measuring the most pressing climate impacts in the Chesapeake Bay? We found that scientists produce the most amount of data but are increasingly shifting towards engaging with practitioners through reports and online resources. Most indicators focus on the Chesapeake Bay scale, but data is most needed at the local level where adaptive policies are implemented. Our analysis shows emerging approaches to monitoring climate hazards and areas where synergies between types of authors are likely to increase resilience in the 21st century. This review expands the understanding of the information network in the Chesapeake Bay and explores the institutional landscape of stakeholders involved in the production and consumption of environmental and social change data. The analysis and insights of this review may be extended to similar regions around the planet experiencing or anticipating similar climate hazards to the Chesapeake Bay.

scholarly journals A Review of the Potential Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options for European Viticulture

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3092 ◽  
Author(s):  
João A. Santos ◽  
Helder Fraga ◽  
Aureliano C. Malheiro ◽  
José Moutinho-Pereira ◽  
Lia-Tânia Dinis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Wine Production ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Adaptation Options

Viticulture and winemaking are important socioeconomic sectors in many European regions. Climate plays a vital role in the terroir of a given wine region, as it strongly controls canopy microclimate, vine growth, vine physiology, yield, and berry composition, which together determine wine attributes and typicity. New challenges are, however, predicted to arise from climate change, as grapevine cultivation is deeply dependent on weather and climate conditions. Changes in viticultural suitability over the last decades, for viticulture in general or the use of specific varieties, have already been reported for many wine regions. Despite spatially heterogeneous impacts, climate change is anticipated to exacerbate these recent trends on suitability for wine production. These shifts may reshape the geographical distribution of wine regions, while wine typicity may also be threatened in most cases. Changing climates will thereby urge for the implementation of timely, suitable, and cost-effective adaptation strategies, which should also be thoroughly planned and tuned to local conditions for an effective risk reduction. Although the potential of the different adaptation options is not yet fully investigated, deserving further research activities, their adoption will be of utmost relevance to maintain the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of the highly valued viticulture and winemaking sector in Europe.

scholarly journals Road Adaptation to Climate Hazards: Guidelines for Cost-Effective Measures

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Anastasios Mouratidis ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Scientific Paper ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Road Infrastructure ◽  
The Road ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Climate Hazards

Climate change and extreme weather events present a significant challenge to the safety, reliability, effectiveness and sustainability of every transportation system. Extreme weather events such as tsunami waves, wildfires, floods and hurricanes constitute a big risk for the integrity of the road transport system, since they can severely harm the infrastructure and its assets. Far more disastrous is the eventual direct impact on passengers, vehicles and goods, suddenly and unforeseeably hit by the weather event while moving on the roadway. In the field of road adaptation to climate threats, different scientific approaches have been developed but they have not produced, so far, the expected results, as the road transport sector still suffers from extreme climate hazards. The present scientific paper investigates the reasons for this failure and suggests a different perspective for realistic and cost-effective measures of proactive character to reinforce the road infrastructure and to increase its resilience to climate threats. It makes distinction between preventive and protective measures, including intercepting engineering assets and digital alarm systems. Moreover, the scientific paper introduces several key-points, in terms of fundamental recommendations of a different perspective of the climate change impact on the road infrastructure. In this regard, it may constitute a useful tool for transport authorities and operators to rationally plan interventions on a road network scale.

Climate Change Adaptation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Schmidt-Thomé
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Scientific Results

Climate change adaptation is the ability of a society or a natural system to adjust to the (changing) conditions that support life in a certain climate region, including weather extremes in that region. The current discussion on climate change adaptation began in the 1990s, with the publication of the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Since the beginning of the 21st century, most countries, and many regions and municipalities have started to develop and implement climate change adaptation strategies and plans. But since the implementation of adaptation measures must be planned and conducted at the local level, a major challenge is to actually implement adaptation to climate change in practice. One challenge is that scientific results are mainly published on international or national levels, and political guidelines are written at transnational (e.g., European Union), national, or regional levels—these scientific results must be downscaled, interpreted, and adapted to local municipal or community levels. Needless to say, the challenges for implementation are also rooted in a large number of uncertainties, from long time spans to matters of scale, as well as in economic, political, and social interests. From a human perspective, climate change impacts occur rather slowly, while local decision makers are engaged with daily business over much shorter time spans.Among the obstacles to implementing adaptation measures to climate change are three major groups of uncertainties: (a) the uncertainties surrounding the development of our future climate, which include the exact climate sensitivity of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, the reliability of emission scenarios and underlying storylines, and inherent uncertainties in climate models; (b) uncertainties about anthropogenically induced climate change impacts (e.g., long-term sea level changes, changing weather patterns, and extreme events); and (c) uncertainties about the future development of socioeconomic and political structures as well as legislative frameworks.Besides slow changes, such as changing sea levels and vegetation zones, extreme events (natural hazards) are a factor of major importance. Many societies and their socioeconomic systems are not properly adapted to their current climate zones (e.g., intensive agriculture in dry zones) or to extreme events (e.g., housing built in flood-prone areas). Adaptation measures can be successful only by gaining common societal agreement on their necessity and overall benefit. Ideally, climate change adaptation measures are combined with disaster risk reduction measures to enhance resilience on short, medium, and long time scales.The role of uncertainties and time horizons is addressed by developing climate change adaptation measures on community level and in close cooperation with local actors and stakeholders, focusing on strengthening resilience by addressing current and emerging vulnerability patterns. Successful adaptation measures are usually achieved by developing “no-regret” measures, in other words—measures that have at least one function of immediate social and/or economic benefit as well as long-term, future benefits. To identify socially acceptable and financially viable adaptation measures successfully, it is useful to employ participatory tools that give all involved parties and decision makers the possibility to engage in the process of identifying adaptation measures that best fit collective needs.

Adaptation to Climate Change

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Schmidt-Thomé
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Flood Prone Areas

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science. Please check back later for the full article. Adaptation to climate change is the ability of a society or a natural system to adjust to the conditions that support life in a certain climate region, including weather extremes in that region. The current discussion on adaptation to climate began in the 1990s with the publication of the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Scientific results are mainly published internationally or at a national level, and political guidelines are written at transnational (e.g., European Union), national, or regional levels. But since the implementation of adaptation measures must be planned and conducted at the local level, a major challenge is to actually implement adaptation to climate change in practice. Needless to say, the challenges for implementation are rooted in a large number of uncertainties from long time spans to matters of scale, as well as with economic, political, and social interests. From a human perspective, climate change impacts occur rather slowly while local decision makers are engaged with daily business over much shorter time spans. Among the obstacles to implementing adaptation measures to climate change are three major groups of uncertainties: (1) the uncertainties surrounding the development of our future climate, which include the exact climate sensitivity of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, the reliability of emission scenarios and underlying storylines, and inherent uncertainties in climate models; (2) uncertainties about anthropogenically induced climate change impacts (e.g., long-term sea level changes, weather patterns, and extreme events); and (3) uncertainties about the future development of socioeconomic structures, economic development and stability, and overall political stability. Important challenges that add to these uncertainties involve current legislation (e.g., granting building permissions in potentially flood-prone areas and related economic interests). Besides slow changes that influence areas such as vegetation zones, extreme events are a factor of major importance. In addition, many societies and their socioeconomic systems are not properly adapted to their current climate zones (e.g., intensive agriculture in dry zones) or to extreme events (e.g., housing built in flood-prone areas). Adaptation measures can be successful only by gaining common societal agreement on their necessity and overall benefit. Ways to identify and implement societal and economically acceptable adaptation measures also optimally include “no-regret” measures—measures that have at least one function of immediate social benefit as well as long-term, future benefit. To identify socially acceptable and financially viable adaptation measures successfully it is useful to employ structured communication measures that give all involved parties and actors a voice and a possibility to engage in the process of identifying adaptation measures that best fit collective needs.

scholarly journals Strategic protection of landslide vulnerable mountains for biodiversity conservation under land-cover and climate change impacts

2022 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. e2113416118
Author(s):  
Binbin V. Li ◽  
Clinton N. Jenkins ◽  
Weihua Xu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Areas Of Endemism

Natural disasters impose huge uncertainty and loss to human lives and economic activities. Landslides are one disaster that has become more prevalent because of anthropogenic disturbances, such as land-cover changes, land degradation, and expansion of infrastructure. These are further exacerbated by more extreme precipitation due to climate change, which is predicted to trigger more landslides and threaten sustainable development in vulnerable regions. Although biodiversity conservation and development are often regarded as having a trade-off relationship, here we present a global analysis of the area with co-benefits, where conservation through expanding protection and reducing deforestation can not only benefit biodiversity but also reduce landslide risks to human society. High overlap exists between landslide susceptibility and areas of endemism for mammals, birds, and amphibians, which are mostly concentrated in mountain regions. We identified 247 mountain ranges as areas with high vulnerability, having both exceptional biodiversity and landslide risks, accounting for 25.8% of the global mountainous areas. Another 31 biodiverse mountains are classified as future vulnerable mountains as they face increasing landslide risks because of predicted climate change and deforestation. None of these 278 mountains reach the Aichi Target 11 of 17% coverage by protected areas. Of the 278 mountains, 52 need immediate actions because of high vulnerability, severe threats from future deforestation and precipitation extremes, low protection, and high-population density and anthropogenic activities. These actions include protected area expansion, forest conservation, and restoration where it could be a cost-effective way to reduce the risks of landslides.

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