(Press-News.org) Contact information: Albert Ang
press@inderscience.com
Inderscience Publishers
Loss and damage from climate change
Despite attempts at adaption losses and damage from climate change are significant
An open access special issue of the International Journal of Global Warming brings together, for the first time, empirical evidence of loss and damage from the perspective of affected people in nine vulnerable countries. The articles in this special issue show how climatic stressors affect communities, what measures households take to prevent loss and damage, and what the consequences are when they are unable to adjust sufficiently. The guest-editors, Kees van der Geest and Koko Warner of the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in Bonn, Germany, introduce the special issue with an overview of key findings from the nine research papers, all of which are available online free of charge.
'Loss and damage' refers to adverse effects of climate variability and climate change that occur despite mitigation and adaptation efforts. Warner and van der Geest discuss the loss and damage incurred by people at the local-level based on evidence from research teams working in nine vulnerable countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Micronesia, Mozambique and Nepal. The research papers pool data from 3269 household surveys and more than 200 focus groups and expert interviews.
The research reveals four loss and damage pathways. Residual impacts of climate stressors occur when:
existing coping/adaptation to biophysical impact is not enough;
measures have costs (including non-economic) that cannot be regained;
despite short-term merits, measures have negative effects in the longer term; or
no measures are adopted – or possible – at all.
The articles in this special issue provide evidence that loss and damage happens simultaneously with efforts by people to adjust to climatic stressors. The evidence illustrates loss and damage around barriers and limits to adaptation: growing food and livelihood insecurity, unreliable water supplies, deteriorating human welfare and increasing manifestation of erosive coping measures (e.g. eating less, distress sale of productive assets to buy food, reducing the years of schooling for children, etc.). These negative impacts touch upon people's welfare and health, social cohesion, culture and identity – values that contribute to the functioning of society but which elude monetary valuation.
The publication of this set of research papers is very timely as loss and damage will be a key topic during the climate negotiations in Warsaw next month (11-22 November 2013), and empirical evidence is still scarce. The findings also contribute to the emerging body of literature on adaptation limits and constraints, a topic that – for the first time – is discussed in a separate chapter of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Group 2 (IPCC AR5 WG2).
The issues that have arisen through this research point to an even greater urgency for ambitious mitigation and adaptation that are sufficient to manage climate stressors. If this goal is missed, loss and damage will undermine society´s ability to pursue sustainable development.
"The special issue of the International Journal of Global Warming focuses on a crucial topic: 'Loss and damage' which refers to adverse effects of climate variability and climate change that occur despite mitigation and adaptation efforts," Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Dincer of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology says. The issue reports on the first ever multi-country study on this emerging topic from the perspective of vulnerable communities in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The research papers included show that current mitigation and adaptation efforts are not enough. People across the study sites were not passive victims of climate change. A large majority implemented a wide variety of adaptation and coping measures to avoid impacts of climate stressors, but these measures were often insufficient or came at a cost. The negative effects were not simply monetary, there were cultural losses and non-economic costs, in terms of time investment, social-cohesion and livelihood security, were also widespread. "IJGW positions itself uniquely by addressing the issue and offering solutions," Dincer adds.
###
"Loss and damage from climate change: local-level evidence from nine vulnerable countries" in Int. J. Global Warming, 2013, 5, 367-386
In the interests of enhancing global discussions of critical and urgent issues arising from climate change now, the research papers are being made available by Inderscience Publishers free of charge to all readers at the following link:
http://www.inderscience.com/info/inarticletoc.php?jcode=ijgw&year=2013&vol=5&issue=4
Loss and damage from climate change
Despite attempts at adaption losses and damage from climate change are significant
2013-10-25
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
What determines which sources within an episode are successfully remembered?
2013-10-25
What determines which sources within an episode are successfully remembered?
Memory about a core item (such as a word, object, or picture) is called item memory while memory about the context or related features of a core item is defined as source memory. What determines ...
How does ursolic acid induce neural regeneration after sciatic nerve injury?
2013-10-25
How does ursolic acid induce neural regeneration after sciatic nerve injury?
Ursolic acid (chemical name 3-hydroxy-12- ursen-28-oic acid) is a triterpenoid extracted from natural plant-based drugs, and has anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-scarring ...
Hope of new treatment for severe asthma patients
2013-10-25
Hope of new treatment for severe asthma patients
New research from Japan brings hope of a new treatment for asthma patients resistant to corticosteroids. In a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences ...
An antibody fragment designed at the UAB ameliorates first hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease in mice
2013-10-25
An antibody fragment designed at the UAB ameliorates first hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease in mice
Researchers at the Biosciences Unit of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), in ...
Important step towards stem cell-based treatment for stroke
2013-10-25
Important step towards stem cell-based treatment for stroke
Brain infarction or stroke is caused by a blood clot blocking a blood vessel in the brain, which leads to interruption of blood flow and shortage of oxygen. Now a reserach group at Lund University, Sweden, has ...
Scientists' new approach improves efficiency of solar cells
2013-10-25
Scientists' new approach improves efficiency of solar cells
An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the Universities of York and St Andrews, has developed a new method to increase the efficiency of solar cells.
The new approach achieves highly ...
Saarbrücken physicists aim to make transition to quantum world visible
2013-10-25
Saarbrücken physicists aim to make transition to quantum world visible
This news release is available in German. Theoretical physicist Frank Wilhelm-Mauch and his research team at Saarland University have developed a mathematical model for a ...
Scientists develop new method to help global coasts adapt to sea-level rise
2013-10-25
Scientists develop new method to help global coasts adapt to sea-level rise
A team of scientists, led by the University of Southampton, has developed a new method to help the world's coasts adapt to global sea-level rises over the next 100 years.
Future ...
Proteins in one of the world's main biodiesel plants have been mapped -- and it does not look good
2013-10-25
Proteins in one of the world's main biodiesel plants have been mapped -- and it does not look good
The castor oil plant produces some very fatty beans from which oil is refined into biodiesel in several countries, eg. Brazil. Now a team of researchers from the University ...
Mexico does not love Raymond, NASA sees weaker storm
2013-10-25
Mexico does not love Raymond, NASA sees weaker storm
South-central Mexico was inundated with heavy rains from Hurricane Raymond during the week of Oct. 20, and Raymond has finally weakened to a tropical storm and is moving away from the coast. Infrared data from ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Uniting the light spectrum on a chip
Hundreds of new bacteria, and two potential antibiotics, found in soil
Smells deceive the brain – are interpreted as taste
New species survival commission fills critical gap in conservation
New conservation committee led by Applied Microbiology International calls on science community to get on board with microbial conservation
Scientists uncover key stabilizing role of small molecules
“Black Hole Stars” could solve JWST riddle of overly massive early galaxies
Mysterious ‘red dots’ in early universe may be ‘black hole star’ atmospheres
A gene mutation found in East Asian people increases liver disease risk by an ‘aldehyde storm’
Artificial intelligence‑assisted conductive hydrogel dressings for refractory wounds monitoring
Scalable fabrication of methylammonium‑free wide‑bandgap perovskite solar cells by blade coating in ambient air
Wearable devices could revolutionize pregnancy monitoring and detect abnormalities
Efficient cation recognition strategies for cationic compounds
US COVID-19 school closures were not cost-effective, but other non-pharmaceutical interventions were, new study finds
Human activities linked to declines of big seeds
North-south autism assessment divide leaves children waiting three years longer
Want to publish in Nature? Webinar with Prof. Willie Peijnenburg shares insider tips
Cataract surgery on both eyes can be carried out safely and effectively in one go
Personalized brain stimulation shows benefit for depression
AI uncovers hidden rules of some of nature’s toughest protein bonds
Innovative approach helps new mothers get hepatitis C treatment
Identifying the Interactions That Drive Cell Migration in Brain Cancer
ORNL receives 2025 SAMPE Organizational Excellence Award
University of Oklahoma researchers aim to reduce indigenous cancer disparities
Study reveals new evidence, cost savings for common treatments for opioid use disorder in mothers and infants
Research alert: Frequent cannabis users show no driving impairment after two-day break
Turbulence with a twist
Volcanic emissions of reactive sulfur gases may have shaped early mars climate, making it more hospitable to life
C-Path concludes 2025 Global Impact Conference with progress across rare diseases, neurology and pediatrics
Research exposes far-reaching toll of financial hardship on patients with cancer
[Press-News.org] Loss and damage from climate changeDespite attempts at adaption losses and damage from climate change are significant