Risk and Uncertainties, Analysis and Evaluation: Lessons for Adaptation and Integration

This paper draws ten lessons from analyses of adaptation to climate change under conditions of risk and uncertainty: (1) Socio-economic systems will likely respond most to extreme realizations of climate change. (2) Systems have been responding to variations in climate for centuries. (3) Future chan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change 1999-09, Vol.4 (3-4), p.319-329
Main Authors: Yohe, G, Dowlatabadi, H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Climate change
Environmental policy
Studies
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Summary:This paper draws ten lessons from analyses of adaptation to climate change under conditions of risk and uncertainty: (1) Socio-economic systems will likely respond most to extreme realizations of climate change. (2) Systems have been responding to variations in climate for centuries. (3) Future change will effect future citizens and their institutions. (4) Human systems can be the sources of surprise. (5) Perceptions of risk depend upon welfare valuations that depend upon expectations. (6) Adaptive decisions will be made in response to climate change and climate change policy. (7) Analysis of adaptive decisions should recognize the second-best context of those decisions. (8) Climate change offers opportunity as well as risk. (9) All plausible futures should be explored. (10) Multiple methodological approaches should be accommodated. These lessons support two pieces of advice for the Third Assessment Report: (1) Work toward consensus, but not at the expense of thorough examination and reporting of the "tails" of the distributions of the future. (2) Integrated assessment is only one unifying methodology; others that can better accommodate those tails should be encouraged and embraced.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:1381-2386
1573-1596
DOI:10.1023/A:1009619806936