Adaptation Network: Building Resilience in a Changing Climate
Authors
NA
Keywords
Date_Pub
11/2007
Pages
URL
http://adaptationnetwork.org/
DocumentLocation
http://adaptationnetwork.org/
Description
Adapting, adaptation, adaptedness—all, according to Merriam-Webster’s, mean change to better match present or future circumstances. Adaptation can mean adjusting to environmental conditions to avoid negative impacts or can mean to embrace positive consequences of change. By looking at present and likely future environmental conditions, we can see that the past is no longer a good guide for the future. The science tells us the climate is changing (e.g. temperatures and sea levels are rising and precipitation patterns are changing). As humans we know what it means to have our natural environment change and to be able to prepare for it through changes in our built environment: we know that the seasons will cause us to need a variety of clothes and housing because winter is colder and summer is warmer. Change, then, can and does affect us in both our natural environment and in our built or human environment. And knowledge around what is likely coming can help us to prepare effectively and become less vulnerable.
