Ways to Address Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

What is Mitigation? To prevent the worsening of destruction To decrease force or intensity. To lower risk. Earthquake mitigation Build buildings to withstand shaking better Flood mitigation Build dams to hold back overflowing rivers Climate change mitigation Reduce carbon dioxide emissions

What is Adaptation? Reacting or changing to fit the new circumstance Coping with impacts that cannot be avoided Examples: farmers planting different crops for different seasons wildlife migrating to more suitable habitats as the seasons change. Building levees against sea level rise

"Mitigation helps us avoid the unmanageable, while adaptation helps us manage the unavoidable." A clever colleague once said

Mitigation Adaptation

World C emissionsChange in world temperatures Continued growth and flat emissions scenario are taken from the IIASA GGI database (A2r and B2, respectively). Stabilization case is adapted from the B2 480 ppm scenario. Halting emissions growth is not enough

Raupach et al., 2007 Regional CO 2 Emissions 2004

Raupach et al., 2007 Regional CO 2 Emissions Growth

Davis and Caldeira, 2010

Mitigation Adaptation

Food Production Air Quality Forest FiresWater Supply

Diminishing Sierra Snowpack Percentage Remaining, Relative to UCS