A Marine Climate Change Adaptation Blueprint For Coastal Regional Communities

Coastal communities are at the frontline of a changing climate. Escalating problems created by sea-level rise, a greater number of severe coastal storms, and other repercussions of climate change will exacerbate already pervasive impacts resulting from rapid coastal population growth and intensification of development. To prosper in the coming decades, coastal communities need to build their adaptive capacity and resilience. Telling the stories of real-world communities in a wide range of coastal settings, including America’s Gulf of Mexico coast, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, The Maldives, southern Africa, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, the case studies in Climate Change and the Coast: Building Resilient Communities reveal a rich diversity of adaptation approaches. A number of common themes emerge that indicate opportunities, barriers, and on-ground realities for progressing adaptation at the coast. Together, they highlight the need to consciously reflect on current circumstances, contemplate future prospects, and deliberately choose pathways that are attuned to the changing circumstances climate change will bring to coastal regions. This process is termed "reflexive adaptation," capturing the principle of critical self-reflection and self-correction in the face of adversity, uncertainty, surprise, and contestation. Provides practical advice for adapting to climate change based on case studies written by leading specialists with firsthand experience in real-world communities in diverse coastal settings around the globe Integrates insights from research and practice in an accessible way so that coastal communities can plan proactively for a future shaped by climate change Explains how climate change compounds pervasive unsustainable practices in coasts around the world Explores how coastal governance and adaptation theory and practices have evolved Details the barriers and opportunities for adapting to climate change Climate Change and the Coast: Building Resilient Communities will interest those concerned about the future of coastal communities. It shows what has succeeded and what has failed around the world, and where there are opportunities to be grasped and pitfalls to be avoided. It will be invaluable to those involved in enabling adaptation to climate change, including policy-makers, coastal managers, day-to-day decision-makers, students, and researchers.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of research and projects regarding climate change adaptation in coastal areas, providing government and nongovernment bodies with a sound basis to promote climate change adaptation efforts.According to the 5th Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), coastal zones are highly vulnerable to climate change, and climate-driven impacts may be further exacerbated by other human-induced pressures. Apart from sea-level rise, which poses a threat to both human well-being and property, extreme events such as cyclones and storm surges lead not only to significant damage to property and infrastructure, but also to salt water intrusion, groundwater salinisation, and intensified soil erosion, among many other problems. There are also numerous negative impacts on the natural environment and biodiversity, including damage to important wetlands and habitats that safeguard the overall ecological balance, and consequently the provision of ecosystem services and goods on which the livelihoods of millions of people depend. As such, there is a need for a better understanding of how climate change affects coastal areas and communities, and for the identification of processes, methods and tools that can help the countries and communities in coastal areas to adapt and become more resilient. It is against this background that this book has been produced. It includes papers written by scholars, social movements, practitioners and members of governmental agencies, pursuing research and/or executing climate change projects in coastal areas and working with coastal communities. Focusing on “managing climate change in coastal regions”, it showcases valuable lessons learned from research and field projects and presents best practices to foster climate change adaptation in coastal areas and communities, which can be implemented elsewhere.

The book provides a concise and interdisciplinary outlook on the impacts of climate change on coastal areas and how coastal communities adapt to them. The first chapter analyses how sea level rise, changing ocean conditions, or increased climate variability and the socio-environmental context of the coastal zone leads to vulnerable communities. The second chapter addresses adaptation strategies and tools, and gives some examples of their application around the world. The third chapter describes participative action research projects undertaken in New Brunswick and how this community based approach has enabled communities to increase their climate resilience.

Australians are famous for our love of the coast, although in many places this 'love' has caused serious and often irreversible impacts. The sustainable management of our society's many uses of the coast is complex and challenging. While a wealth of knowledge exists about the coast, this is not always brought to bear on decision-making. Coastal management to date has had limited success, and in some cases interventions have made problems worse. Australia's coast has been shaped by severe events such as cyclones and floods, with climate change now increasing the number and intensity of these hazards. In addition, our coastal populations are growing, and with them our social, environmental and economic vulnerability to such hazards. This book explores the evolution of coastal management, and provides critical insights into contemporary experience and understanding of coastal management in Australia. It draws on contemporary theory and lessons from case examples to highlight the roles of research and community engagement in coastal management. The book concludes with a chapter of recommendations which can help guide coastal management and research around the world.

This topical Research Handbook examines the legal intersections of climate change, oceans and coasts across multiple scales and sectors, covering different geographies and regions. With expert contributions from Europe, Australasia, the Pacific, North America and Asia, it includes insightful chapters on issues ranging across the impacts of climate change on marine and coastal environments. It assesses institutional responses to climate change in ocean and marine governance regimes, adaptation to climate impacts on ocean and coastal systems and communities, and climate change mitigation in marine and coastal environments. Through a plurality of voices, disciplinary and geographical perspectives, this Research Handbook explores cross-cutting themes of institutional complexity, fragmentation, scale and design trade-offs.

The sociocultural and environmental dimensions of adapting to climate change in coastal regions and beyond take centre stage in this edited volume. Scientists from an interdisciplinary background address questions of how to cope with the challenge of climate change in different contexts. The book highlights aspects of coastal adaptation, response strategies, and factors for success at regional and local levels.A changing climate not only affects the natural world. Social aspects both are affected by and cause climate change, so need to be considered in adapting to it. Being key factors in creating and solving the challenges of climate change, end users, decision makers and local residents need to be encouraged to take action and adapt.

Federal agencies in the United States are planning for climate change in many ways, including through the design of climate change adaptation actions. Like any iterative planning process, climate adaptation planning includes monitoring and evaluation components so plans and actions can be measured for their overall effectiveness. It is important for program and project managers responsible for designing and implementing climate adaptation actions to be able to monitor and evaluate the success (or at times the failure) of their efforts. Learning from monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of adaptation actions can help the Federal government adjust their actions and responses accordingly to strengthen the resilience of communities around the Nation. To better support Federal agencies in their coastal climate adaptation planning efforts, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)'s Adaptation Science Interagency Working Group (ASIWG) conducted a search of numerous databases to identify examples of programs and products related to evaluations of coastal climate adaptation actions. The number of evaluations of climate adaptation actions was small, however, and those that had been done focused largely on the early stages of programs and projects. This is not surprising, as most organizations and governments are only beginning to implement climate adaptation planning and actions. To enlarge the set of evaluations for review, the focus was widened to include evaluations of other actions related to climate adaptation (e.g., those related to natural resource management, disaster risk reduction, etc.) and their evaluation resources. This review also explored the literature related to continued monitoring specifically for adaptation planning and actions, since observations and measurements are crucial for successful evaluations. This annotated bibliography presents the results of that review of the relevant peer-reviewed literature and reports from Federal, state, and local governments. It includes journal articles and publicly available reports in addition to a number of guides, websites, tools, and other resources developed for program and project managers interested in planning and conducting evaluations. A glossary of common monitoring and evaluation terms is provided at the end of this document. The ASIWG hopes that this bibliography will be a useful resource for program and project managers looking to inform their decisions on climate change adaptation planning and the evaluation programs that will help ensure their success.