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Understanding Impacts of Climate Variation in Varied Socio-ecological Domains: A Prerequisite for Climate Change Adaptation and Management

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Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract

This chapter examines the impacts of climate variability on selected socio-ecological settings in South Asia. A transdisciplinary conceptual framework is presented that blends multilevel interactions in a social-ecological-climate nexus. The overarching objective is to draw on empirical experience to build capacity to make use of climate data for societal needs, i.e., to facilitate climate change adaptation planning. The chapter has two modules. The first module, Climate Change Monitoring (CCM), details the operating structure of real-time climate data and its practical use. The second module, Climate Change Assessment (CCA), examines impacts and adaptation options using a case study approach. Focusing on the analytical process, the authors examine three socio-ecological subsystems, i.e., marine fisheries, a rice agroecosystem, and human migration, using a mixed “tool box” of meteorological data, remote sensing images, primary and secondary socioeconomic information, and a variety of software programs. The results indicate that (1) spatial indicators are useful in explaining a decline in marine ecosystem productivity; (2) local-level temperature variability is closely related to agroecosystem transitions; and (3) climatic variability, especially increased frequency of extreme events, triggers human migration. The case studies highlight the need to employ real-time climate data in the design of adaptation strategies and the requirement for a transdisciplinary approach.

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Acknowledgments

This chapter is inspired from the talk delivered by the first author titled Ecological and Socio-economic Vulnerability links closely with climate variation: A study exploring adaptation using this connect at UNU-WIDER Conference on Climate Change and Development Policy, United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki, Finland, 28–29 September 2012. The authors thank the staff at APCC in South Korea and the BioDIVA project for their inputs and support and Andrew Halliday for language editing. The usual disclaimer applies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Umweltplanung (IUP), Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität, Herrenhäuser Str. 2 (Postal), 30419, Hannover, Germany

    Nidhi Nagabhatla

  2. APEC Climate Center (APCC), Busan, 612-020, South Korea

    Sobhan Kumar Sahu & Wooseop Lee

  3. Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Brandenburg, Germany

    Armando Gaetaniello

  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China

    Lijuan Wen

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  1. Nidhi Nagabhatla
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  2. Sobhan Kumar Sahu
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  3. Armando Gaetaniello
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  4. Lijuan Wen
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  5. Wooseop Lee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nidhi Nagabhatla .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences Faculty of Life Science, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

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Nagabhatla, N., Sahu, S.K., Gaetaniello, A., Wen, L., Lee, W. (2014). Understanding Impacts of Climate Variation in Varied Socio-ecological Domains: A Prerequisite for Climate Change Adaptation and Management. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40455-9_64-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40455-9_64-1

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