Climate change and extreme weather events: can developing countries adapt?

Developing countries are vulnerable to extremes of normal climatic variability, and climate change is likely to increase the frequency and magnitude of some extreme weather events and disasters. Adaptation to climate change is dependent on current adaptive capacity and the development models that are being pursued by developing countries. Various frameworks are available for vulnerability and adaptation (V&A) assessments, and they have both advantages and limitations. Investments in developing countries are more focused on recovery from a disaster than on the creation of adaptive capacity. Extreme climatic events create a spiral of debt burden on developing countries. Increased capacity to manage extreme weather events can reduce the magnitude of economic, social and human damage and eventually, investments, in terms of borrowing money from the lending agencies. Vulnerability to extreme weather events, disaster management and adaptation must be part of long-term sustainable development planning in developing countries. Lending agencies and donors need to reform their investment policies in developing countries to focus more on capacity building instead of just investing in recovery operations and infrastructure development.     

Climate change and extreme weather events: can developing countries adapt?

Abstract

Developing countries are vulnerable to extremes of normal climatic variability, and climate change is likely to increase the frequency and magnitude of some extreme weather events and disasters. Adaptation to climate change is dependent on current adaptive capacity and the development models that are being pursued by developing countries. Various frameworks are available for vulnerability and adaptation (V&A) assessments, and they have both advantages and limitations. Investments in developing countries are more focused on recovery from a disaster than on the creation of adaptive capacity. Extreme climatic events create a spiral of debt burden on developing countries. Increased capacity to manage extreme weather events can reduce the magnitude of economic, social and human damage and eventually, investments, in terms of borrowing money from the lending agencies. Vulnerability to extreme weather events, disaster management and adaptation must be part of long-term sustainable development planning in developing countries. Lending agencies and donors need to reform their investment policies in developing countries to focus more on capacity building instead of just investing in recovery operations and infrastructure development.     

A Review of Climate Change Attribution Studies

This paper reviews recent progress in climate change attribution studies. The focus is on the attribution of observed long-term changes in surface temperature, precipitation, circulation, and extremes, as well as that of specific extreme weather and climate events. Based on new methods and better models and observations, the latest studies further verify the conclusions on climate change attribution in the IPCC AR5, and enrich the evidence for anthropogenic influences on weather and climate variables and extremes. The uncertainty of global temperature change attributable to anthropogenic forcings lies in the considerable uncertainty of estimated total radiative forcing due to aerosols, while the uncertainty of precipitation change attribution arises from the limitations of observation and model simulations along with influences from large internal variability. In terms of extreme weather and climate events, it is clear that attribution studies have provided important new insights into the changes in the intensity or frequency of some of these events caused by anthropogenic climate change. The framing of the research question, the methods selected, and the model and statistical methods used all have influences on the results and conclusions drawn in an event attribution study. Overall, attribution studies in China remain inadequate because of limited research focus and the complexity of the monsoon climate in East Asia. Attribution research in China has focused mainly on changes or events related to temperature, such as the attribution of changes in mean and extreme temperature and individual heat wave events. Some progress has also been made regarding the pattern of changes in precipitation and individual extreme rainfall events in China. Nonetheless, gaps remain with respect to the attribution of changes in extreme precipitation, circulation, and drought, as well as to the event attribution such as those related to drought and tropical cyclones. It can be expected that, with the continual development of climate models, ongoing improvements to data, and the introduction of new methods in the future, climate change attribution research will develop accordingly. Additionally, further improvement in climate change attribution will facilitate the development of operational attribution systems for extreme events, as well as attribution studies of climate change impacts.     

The Effects of Climatic Variability on US Irrigation Adoption

This paper contributes to the literature underscoring the importance of climatic variance by developing a framework for incorporating the means and tails of the distributions of rainfall and temperature into empirical models of agricultural production. The methodology is applied to estimate the impact of climate change on the discrete choice decision to adopt irrigation since it is an important adaptation to climate change. We develop a discrete choice model for the decision to install irrigation capacity that captures the effects of both climate means and extremes. Climatic means and frequencies of climatic events in the upper tails of the temperature and precipitation distributions are used to estimate the parameters of a normal distribution for temperature and a Weibull distribution for precipitation. Using estimates from a probit model, we examine the independent effects of changing climatic mean and variance on the probability of adopting irrigation. Increasing the mean temperature, holding variance constant, shifts the entire distribution toward warmer temperatures—increasing the frequency of extreme temperatures. For precipitation, the specification captures the separate effects of mean rainfall, frequency of rainfall, and frequency of extreme events. The results show that the tails of the temperature and precipitation distributions, not the means, are the dominant climatic determinants in irrigation adoption. The results also show that water availability, soil characteristics, farm size and operator demographics are important determinants of irrigation.     

Understanding the adaptation deficit: Why are poor countries more vulnerable to climate events than rich countries?

Poor countries are more heavily affected by extreme weather events and future climate change than rich countries. One of the reasons for this is the so-called adaptation deficit, that is, limits in the ability of poorer countries to adapt. This paper analyses the link between income and adaptation to climate events theoretically and empirically. We postulate that the adaptation deficit may be due to two factors: A demand effect, whereby the demand for the good “climate security” increases with income, and an efficiency effect, which works as a spill-over externality on the supply-side: Adaptation productivity in high-income countries is enhanced because of factors like better public services and stronger institutions. Using panel data from the Munich Re natural catastrophe database we find strong evidence for a demand effect for adaptation to two climate-related extreme events, tropical cyclones and floods. Evidence on the efficiency effect is more equivocal. There are some indications that adaptation in rich countries might be more efficient, but the evidence is far from conclusive. The implication for research is that better data, in particular on adaptation effort, need to be collected to understand adaptation efficiency. In terms of policy, we conclude that inclusive growth policies (which boost adaptation demand) should be an important component of international efforts to close the adaptation deficit.     

Extreme weather exposure and support for climate change adaptation

Policy efforts to address climate change are increasingly focused on adaptation, understood as adjustments in human systems to moderate the harm, or exploit beneficial opportunities, related to actual or expected climate impacts. We examine individual-level determinants of support for climate adaptation policies, focusing on whether individuals’ exposure to extreme weather events is associated with their support for climate adaptation policies. Using novel public opinion data on support for a range of adaptation policies, coupled with high resolution geographic data on extreme weather events, we find that individuals experiencing recent extreme weather activity are more likely to support climate change adaptation policy in general, but that the relationship is modest, inconsistent across specific adaptation policies, and diminishes with time. The data thus suggest that experiencing more severe weather may not appreciably increase support for climate adaptation policies.     

京津冀城市群气候变化及影响适应研究综述

本文对2000年以来京津冀城市群气候变化及影响适应的研究成果进行了综述。研究表明：20世纪60年代以来,京津冀城市群年平均气温和极端高温指数显著升高,年降水量波动减少,到21世纪10年代,极端强降水指数降低。京津冀气候变化是全球变暖和城市化共同作用的结果,城市化加速了京津冀变暖趋势,增加了极端高温和极端强降水的频率和强度,气候风险高。未来京津冀城市群协同发展,面临高温热浪、强降水、水资源短缺和海平面上升等风险将更严峻,气候变化适应是京津冀城市群可持续发展面临的紧迫问题,适应策略等方面研究已取得了明显进展,但适用性和针对性还存在不足。本文提出了未来研究展望：深入研究城市化对气候变化的反馈,发展全球气候变化和城市化共同作用下的气候风险精细化预估技术,系统研究气候变化对城市的影响和不同行业的脆弱性,加强温室气体监测评估技术研究,加强适应气候变化的策略、路径和技术研究。     

山区牧民对极端气候事件的感知与适应——基于祁连山区少数民族乡的调查

为明确山区牧民对气候变化趋势和极端气候事件的感知与适应现状,对青海省祁连县野牛沟乡、甘肃省肃南县大河乡、天祝县祁连乡的418户牧民家庭进行入户走访和问卷调查。结果表明：牧民对当地近20年气温升高感知度较高,对降水量变化的感知程度较低,对近期牧业影响较大的极端气候事件感知度较高。牧民针对感受到的不同的极端气候事件采取了有差别的应对措施。储备草料、修建圈舍和暖棚、处理牲畜和外出打工是主要的适应措施。牧业服务、贷款支持和更完善的社会保障体系对提高牧民适应气候变化能力有积极的作用。     

CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY AND RESPONSE STRATEGIES FOR THE COASTAL ZONE OF POLAND

Four accelerated sea level rise scenarios, 30 and 100 cm by the year 2100, and 10 and 30 cm by the year 2030, have been assumed as boundary conditions (along with some wind climate changes) for the entire Polish coast, under two recent programmes completed in 1992 and 1995. Three adaptation strategies, i.e., retreat, limited protection and full protection have been adopted and compared in physical and socio-economic terms. Over 2,200 km² and 230,000 people are found vulnerable in the most severe case of 100-cm rise by 2100. The total cost of land at loss in that case is estimated at nearly 30 USD billion (plus some 18 USD billion at risk of flooding), while the cost of full protection reaches 6 USD billion. Particular features of vulnerability and adaptation schemes have been examined as well, including specific sites and the effects of not only sea level rise but also other climate change factors, and interactions with other climate change studies in Poland. Planning of coastal zone management facing climate change can be facilitated by the use of a GIS-supported coastal information and analysis system. An example of the application of such a system for a selected Polish coastal site is shown to illustrate the most recent smaller-scale research activities undertaken in the wake of the overall assessment of the vulnerability to climate change for the entire Polish coastal zone.     

Is Strange Weather in the Air? A Study of U.S. National Network News Coverage of Extreme Weather Events

This paper asks whether extreme weather events are becoming more discernible. It uses the Vanderbilt University Television News Archives to determine if annual coverage given to heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and floods has increased on the network news between 1968 and 1996. An index of extreme weather events shows a clear trend toward increased coverage, especially since 1988. However, the different types of extreme events do not receive equal coverage: for example, annual peaks for droughts contain about twice as many stories as the peaks for heat waves. The data further reveal that there is no association between coverage of climate change and the overall coverage of extreme events. While extreme events have attracted more stories in the U.S., there has been no increase in the coverage devoted to extreme events in foreign countries. The possible effects of shifts in TV coverage on the public salience and understanding of climate change are discussed.     

关于复合型极端事件的新认识和启示

近年来,极端天气气候事件频繁发生,且常常表现为多种事件交织形成的复合型极端事件。为了更好地认识复合型极端事件,IPCC AR6基于现有的新证据评估了复合型极端事件的最新研究成果,并取得一些新认识：扩展了有关复合型极端事件的定义,重点围绕高温干旱复合型极端事件、复合洪水和野火,评估了复合型极端事件的变化特征,探讨了复合型极端事件多因子之间的依赖性,对人类活动的影响进行了归因分析并给出了未来可能的变化。这些评估结果丰富了对复合型极端事件的基本认识。但根据现有的评估可以发现,目前在复合型极端事件发生发展机理认识方面还存在不足;同时,未来仍需进一步完善跨学科跨部门跨区域研究,加强对复合型极端事件形成机理、预估及其对生态系统,经济社会影响风险的评估,提高对区域气候变化的适应能力。     

IPCC AR6报告解读：陆地和淡水生态系统及其服务变化

IPCC第六次评估报告（AR6）第二工作组（WGII）报告的第二章表明,气候变化对陆地和淡水生态系统影响的范围和程度较前期评估结果更为严峻。人为气候变化导致生态系统结构、功能和恢复力恶化,生物群落转移,疾病的传播范围和发病率增加,野火燃烧面积增加和持续时间延长,局部地区物种灭绝,极端天气的频率和强度增加。未来气温升高2~4℃情景下,陆地和淡水生态系统中高灭绝风险物种占比为10%~13%,野火燃烧面积增加35%~40%,森林地区50%以上树木面临死亡风险,15%~35%的生态系统结构发生转变,碳损失持续增加,气温的升高将进一步加剧这些风险造成的严重且不可逆的影响。通过生态系统保护和恢复等人为适应和减缓措施,可以在一定程度的气候变化范围内保护生态系统的生物多样性并增强生态系统服务在气候变化下的恢复力。加剧的气候变化将阻碍适应措施的制定和实施,为保证措施的有效性需要考虑气候变化的长期影响并加快适应措施的部署。     

气侯层次和分数维

本文应用非线性理论分析了多层次的气候系统,指出分数维是气候系统结构的特征,是气候系统中尺度变换后的不变量。分数维可用于平滑气候资料,滤掉尺度较小的振动,形成较高的气候层次。平滑前后的气候层次结构已不相同。低层次气候变化的规律很不确定,在高层次上看就比较确定了。高、低层次之间存在非线性的相互作用。以上是气候研究中的一些基本问题,本文用我国的气候资料对此作了初步的探讨。     

Assessment of a climate model to reproduce rainfall variability and extremes over Southern Africa

It is increasingly accepted that any possible climate change will not only have an influence on mean climate but may also significantly alter climatic variability. A change in the distribution and magnitude of extreme rainfall events (associated with changing variability), such as droughts or flooding, may have a far greater impact on human and natural systems than a changing mean. This issue is of particular importance for environmentally vulnerable regions such as southern Africa. The sub-continent is considered especially vulnerable to and ill-equipped (in terms of adaptation) for extreme events, due to a number of factors including extensive poverty, famine, disease and political instability. Rainfall variability and the identification of rainfall extremes is a function of scale, so high spatial and temporal resolution data are preferred to identify extreme events and accurately predict future variability. The majority of previous climate model verification studies have compared model output with observational data at monthly timescales. In this research, the assessment of ability of a state of the art climate model to simulate climate at daily timescales is carried out using satellite-derived rainfall data from the Microwave Infrared Rainfall Algorithm (MIRA). This dataset covers the period from 1993 to 2002 and the whole of southern Africa at a spatial resolution of 0.1° longitude/latitude. This paper concentrates primarily on the ability of the model to simulate the spatial and temporal patterns of present-day rainfall variability over southern Africa and is not intended to discuss possible future changes in climate as these have been documented elsewhere. Simulations of current climate from the UK Meteorological Office Hadley Centre’s climate model, in both regional and global mode, are firstly compared to the MIRA dataset at daily timescales. Secondly, the ability of the model to reproduce daily rainfall extremes is assessed, again by a comparison with extremes from the MIRA dataset. The results suggest that the model reproduces the number and spatial distribution of rainfall extremes with some accuracy, but that mean rainfall and rainfall variability is under-estimated (over-estimated) over wet (dry) regions of southern Africa.     

基于动态重现期的极端高温气候评估方法研究

利用全国754站逐日最高气温观测序列,在论证极端温度概率分布与非平稳性关系的基础上,构建和比较了多种非平稳广义极值模型,定义了极端高温的动态重现期和重现水平,提出了一种极端高温事件的新型评估思想和方法,并将其应用于极端气候变化研究。通过该方法可以更好地解释极端事件的真实极端性,有效地增强极端事件之间的可比性,从而保留更多历史极端气候事件的信息。动态重现期的变换运用可对当前极端事件发生的真实状态和趋势提出更准确评估。该方法的提出可有效澄清学术领域和公共舆论对于多年一遇极端事件的理解上长期混淆重现期的绝对值和概率性这一分歧和谬误。     

气候变化对区域经济影响的投入-产出模型研究

利用经济学“投入-产出”分析方法的基本原理，结合气候变化对工业影响的统计模型、对 农业产量影响的计算机模拟系统，建立了气候变化对区域经济影响的投入-产出模型。研究 了当气候变化对工业、农业部门的生产和产品发生影响时，导致的对国民经济其他部门的拉 动需求量和各个部门间的投入-产出流量的变化，从而预测各个部门的国内生产总值和总产 出量，对２０１０，２０２０年的经济发展。综合分析 气候变化对各部门的影响，找出适应区域经济平衡发展的适应对策，为决策者 提供一些参考建议。     

REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS FOR VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION ASSESSMENTS

This paper describes the regional climate change scenarios that are recommended for use in the U.S. Country Studies Program (CSP) and evaluates how well four general circulation models (GCMs) simulate current climate over Europe. Under the umbrella of the CSP, 50 countries with varying skills and experience in developing climate change scenarios are assessing vulnerability and adaptation. We considered the use of general circulation models, analogue warm periods, and incremental scenarios as the basis for creating climate change scenarios. We recommended that participants in the CSP use a combination of GCM based scenarios and incremental scenarios. The GCMs, in spite of their many deficiencies, are the best source of information about regional climate change. Incremental scenarios help identify sensitivities to changes in a particular meteorological variable and ensure that a wide range of regional climate change scenarios are considered. We recommend using the period 1951–1980 as baseline climate because it was a relatively stable climate period globally. Average monthly changes from the GCMs and the incremental changes in climate variables are combined with the historical record to produce scenarios. The scenarios do not consider changes in interannual, daily, or subgrid scale variability. Countries participating in the Country Studies Program were encouraged to compare the GCMs' estimates of current climate with actual long-term climate means. In this paper, we compare output of four GCMs (CCCM, GFDL, UKMO, and GISS) with observed climate over Europe by performing a spatial correlation analysis for temperature and precipitation, by statistically comparing spatial patterns averaged climate estimates from the GCMs with observed climate, and by examining how well the models estimate seasonal patterns of temperature and precipitation. In Europe, the GISS and CCCM models best simulate current temperature, whereas the GISS and UK89 models, and the CCCM model, best simulate precipitation in defined northern and southern regions, respectively.     

国际气候变化适应战略与态势分析

在对国际气候变化适应行动进行回顾和展望的基础上,介绍了以《联合国气候变化框架公约》为主的国际气候变化适应政策的发展轨迹和趋势,分析了欧盟主要国家、澳大利亚、美国、加拿大、日本、俄罗斯和印度等国所采取的气候变化适应战略,总结出国际气候变化适应行动选择主要集中在极端气候事件与自然灾害、安全的淡水供应、基础设施建设、粮食安全,以及应对气候变化的协调机制等方面。     

碳循环及对气候变化和人类生存环境的影响

碳循环及全球变暖已成为影响气候变化、人类生存环境和经济共同发展和安全的重大问题,引起了全球科学、政治、外交政策等部门的重视。本文着重探讨碳循环的由来、生态系统与碳循环的科学相关、在碳循环方面,中国需要解决的问题和科学技术方法以及碳循环系统的科学研究方法和改进等问题。     

Latest Advances in Climate Change Detection Techniques

In recent years,the global warming and its influences on people and social economy have received increasing attention from international communities.Determining the current trend of global temperature variation has become one of the critical issues in climate change research.Obviously,it is rather important to develop new climate change detection technology in order to identify new characteristics of the global warming.This review introduces the latest advances and past achievements on the climate change...