Changes in climate and climate variability have an effect on people's behaviour around the world, and public institutions have an important part to play in influencing our ability to respond to and plan for climate risk. We may be able to reduce climate risk by seeking to mitigate the threat on the one hand, and by adapting to a changed climate on the other. Another theme of the book is the integrated role of adaptation and mitigation in framing issues and performing analyses. Adaptation costs fall most heavily on the poor and special attention needs to be paid to adaptation by the poorest populations. An integrating framework is also presented to provide the context for an expansive typology of terms to apply to adaptation. The 12 papers collected here use methods from a variety of disciplines and focus on different time frames for decision making, from short term to the very long term. Readership: Technically trained readers familiar with the policy issues surrounding climate change and interested in learning the scientific underpinnings of issues related to societal adaptation.
Preface v J. Michael Hall Societal Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change: An Introduction 1(4) Sally M. Kane Gary W. Yohe Cautionary Tales: Adaptation and the Global Poor 5(14) Robert W. Kates Smallholder Maize Production and Climatic Risk: A Case Study from Mexico 19(18) Hallie Eakin Pacific Salmon Fisheries: Climate Information and Adaptation in a Conflict-Ridden Context 37(26) Kathleen A. Miller Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Variability in Southern Africa: The Growing Role of Climate Information 63(12) Maxx Dilley Linking Adaptation and Mitigation in Climate Change Policy 75(28) Sally M. Kane Jason F. Shogren Adaptation and the Guardrail Approach to Tolerable Climate Change 103(26) Gary W. Yohe Ferenc L. Toth The Impacts of Climate Variability on Near-Term Policy Choices and the Value of Information 129(34) Robert J. Lempert Michael E. Schlesinger Steven C. Bankes Natalia G. Andronova Climate Variability, Climate Change and Water Resource Management in the Great Lakes 163(18) Rob C. De Loe Reid D. Kreutzwiser Adaptation in Canadian Agriculture to Climatic Variability and Change 181(22) Christopher R. Bryant Barry Smit Michael Brklacich Thomas R. Johnston John Smithers Quentin Chiotti Bhawan Singh Adaptation: Sensitivity to Natural Variability, Agent Assumptions and Dynamic Climate Changes 203(20) Stephen H. Schneider William E. Easterling Linda O. Mearns An Anatomy of Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability 223(30) Barry Smit Ian Burton Richard J. T. Klein J. Wandel Irreversibility, Uncertainty, and Learning: Portraits of Adaptation to Long-Term Climate Change 253 John Reilly David Schimmelpfenning
