Responding To Climate Change Through Community Involvement
Author: Rana Ashish Singh | Published: January 7, 2018
Climate Change
The climate of the world is changing constantly due to global warming, which is being caused by both natural and man-made activities. These changes have an enormous impact on people’s lives and ecosystems. Developing countries, and particularly the poorest people in these countries, are the most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate variability and ongoing climate change. Their economies depend heavily on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, a reliable water supply, and other natural resources. They are generally hindered by limited human capacity and limited access to technology and capital to invest in risk reduction. Thus, it is imperative that climate change adaptation is not separated from other priorities but is integrated into development planning, programs, and projects.
Impacts Of Climate Change On Hills And Mountains
Mountains are rich repositories of biodiversity and water. Downstream flow of water is heavily dependent on mountains. Climate change can impact biodiversity and the flow of ecosystem services either directly or indirectly through many impact mechanisms. Changes in phonology, physiology, behavior, and evolutionary changes are the most often cited species-level responses. At the ecosystem level, changes in structure, function, patterns of disturbance and the increased dominance of invasive species is a noted concern. Following are the major potential impacts of climate change on species, landscape, water and human well-being.
Resilience
The IPCC (2007a) defines ‘resilience’ as the ability of a social or ecological system to absorb disturbances, while retaining the same basic structure and ways of functioning, the capacity for self-organization, and the capacity to adapt to stress and change. Resiliency can also be defined by a capacity to cope successfully in the face of significant future risk.