Assessing Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change: Making Research Useful for Adaptation Decision Making and Policy
'This book presents the state-of-the-art in vulnerability science,
based on first-hand experience since this new field emerged - an
essential resource for advanced students and scholars. Covering aspects
of natural and social sciences, it discusses case studies from
developed and developing countries.'
Wolfgang Cramer, Professor of Global Ecology, Potsdam institute for Climate impact Research
Assessing the vulnerability of human populations to global
environmental change, particularly climate change, is now the main
imperative of research and international action. However, much of the
research into vulnerability is not designed to feed directly into
decision making and policy, creating a gap between the knowledge
created by researchers and what is required by decision makers.
This book seeks to rectify this problem and bridge the gap. It
discusses vulnerability as the central theme and brings together many
different applications from disaster studies, climate change impact
studies and several other fields. and provides the most comprehensive
synthesis of definitions, theories, formalization and applications to
date, illustrated with examples from different disciplines, regions and
periods, and from local through to regional, national and international
levels. Case study topics cover sea level rise, vulnerability to
changes in ecosystem services, assessing the vulnerability of human
health and 'double exposure' to climate change and trade liberalization
amongst other issues. Research outcomes stress that science-policy
dialogues must be transparent to be effective and concentrate on a
mutual understanding of the concepts used. A key research finding is
that the most useful information for decision makers is that which
shows the separate causes and drivers of vulnerability, rather than
presenting vulnerability in an aggregated form. The book concludes with
a unifying framework for analysing integrated methodologies of
vulnerability assessment and guiding how research and policy can be
linked to reduce vulnerability.
Contact information |
Dan Harding, Marketing Executive, Earthscan Ltd, Dunstan House, 14a St Cross Street, London EC1N 8XA, UK
(email: Dan.Harding@earthscan.co.uk) Phone: +44 (0)20 7841 1953 ; Fax: +44 (0)20 7242 1474 |
---|---|
News type | Inbrief |
File link |
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=42777 |
Source of information | Earth Scan |
Keyword(s) | climate change adaptation |
Subject(s) | METHTODOLOGY - STATISTICS - DECISION AID , POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT , RISKS AND CLIMATOLOGY |
Relation | http://www.semide.net/topics/climatechange |
Geographical coverage | International |
News date | 11/02/2009 |
Working language(s) | ENGLISH |