Freshwater Ecosystems and Climate Change Adaptation; Bart (A.J.) Wickel

¹Stockholm Environment Institute, Davis, California, USA; bart.wickel@sei.org

 

 

Natural ecosystems form an integral buffer that can shield communities and society from extreme weather events and climate conditions such as droughts and floods.  As we are experiencing novel conditions due to changes in global climate caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, the ability of ecosystems to adjust to and recover from disturbance events is increasingly exceeded. Simultaneously, the design and operational parameters for water management infrastructure are increasingly out of sync with emerging climate conditions.  Climate adaptation is defined as the process of adjusting to, and preparing for, the impacts of climate change while we get greenhouse gas emissions under control. Freshwater ecosystems can play a significant role in climate adaptation strategies but are also particularly vulnerable to specific impacts. In this presentation, I will discuss several types of climate adaptation strategies, approaches for developing them, lessons learned and share thoughts on how our collective experiences in the climate adaptation arena can benefit future efforts.