1. Urgent Challenge and Adaptation Considerations for Thailand and Mekong Region (A View from a Climate Generalist) Anond Snidvongs Southeast Asia Regional Center for Global Change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START) Chulalongkorn University (www.start.or.th, www.start.org)

2. How can we ensure that precise information about climate science, climate risk, and vulnerability are communicated to appropriate recipients in the right time, right format, and right context An Urgent Challenge for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation

4. Some Practical Considerations for Appropriate Adaptations Various misconceptions about climate, climate change and risks Roles of the information providers Information relay and recipients Some formal and informal capacity building initiatives in Thailand

5. Some Misconceptions On climate science principles Differentiation and relation between climate and weather Focus only on climate means and less on extremes, ranges and frequencies Globally (including GHG) forcing versus locally/regionally driven climate change/variability On ways to address the climate problem Climate change to be addressed as its own domain Climate change is an ‘environmental’ problem Global warming can be ‘solved’ by mitigation

6. Changes in Weather Statistics Climate change may be of any of these combinations

7. Some Locally/Regionally Driven Changes Urban heat island effects Aerosol effects on air quality, rainfall, etc. Land use/cover changes and impacts on regional weather and water balance Bangkok MODIS Adelaide AVHRR and TRMM Some of these local/regional forcings may be related to GHG driven global warming

8. Example: Coastal Sea Level in the Upper Gulf of Thailand Spring tide 1.0 m NE monsoon effect 0.5 m Buoyancy effect 0.5 m Storm surge 1.0 m HISTORICAL EXTREME COINCIDENCES Land subsidence 0.3 m Mean sea level rise 0.3 m Annual Events Episodic Extremes 2.3 m dike 2030 EXTREME RISK FOR COINCIDENCES Episodic Extremes

9. Misinformation from Sources Lack of local data, local agenda, or local context Internet is not always a good source of reliable information, lack of quality control Discipline oriented perspectives Time and space scale problems Hidden/preoccupied agenda Lack of communication skill

10. Information Recipients Wrong/incomplete communication, misquotations False security on engineering/technical solutions ‘Mean’ Climate change signals are smaller than natural variabilities/extremes Unwilling to change/adapt (behavior, lifestyle, consumption, etc.) Consider climate change/global warming as an isolated ‘environment’ agenda rather than an integrated ‘development’ agenda

11. Formal Education M.A., Ph.D. in Environment, Development and Sustainability (A cooperative postgraduate program of Chulalongkorn University) –Core Courses Understanding Environment, Development and Sustainability Sustainable Resource Management Society, Politics and Social Changes Advanced Issue in Environment, Development and Sustainability –Selected Electives Earth’s Climate System Energy, Environment and Climate Change Climate Science, Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation Managing Biodiversity in a Changing Climate Adaptation Policy Framework - Climate Change Impacts Vulnerability Science for Sustainable Development Planning Climate and Human Settlement Urban Climate Communication in Bargaining and Negotiation Advanced Presentation Skills Studies in Persuasion and Attitude Change

12. Informal Education Books Internet Public/special seminars Media workshops Dialogues Student camps

13. Thank You Climate changeFuture climate threatRiskVulnerabilityAdaptation http://research.start.or.th/climate/