Variations in approaches to urban climate adaptation: Experiences and experimentation from the global South

In recent years, an increasing number of local governments are recognizing the impact of climate change on different urban sectors. This has led many to pursue climate adaptation planning, seeking to achieve preparedness through reducing vulnerability and enhancing resilience of populations, assets, and municipal operations. Although cities typically share these common goals, many are electing to pursue different planning approaches. In this paper, we examine three climate adaptation planning approaches in the cities of Quito (Ecuador), Surat (India), and Durban (South Africa) and analyze the trade-offs associated with different planning pathways and different forms of stakeholder involvement. We assess the potentials and limitations of these different approaches, including their implications for enhancing government integration and coordination, promoting participation and adaptive capacity of vulnerable groups, and facilitating overall urban resilience. We find that, in order to gain widespread commitment on adaptation, sustained political leadership from the top, departmental engagement, and continued involvement from a variety of stakeholders are integral to effective decision-making and institutionalization of programs in the long run. When climate adaptation is advanced with a focus on learning, awareness, and capacity building, the process will likely lead to more sustained, legitimate, and comprehensive adaptation plans and policies that enhance the resilience of the most affected urban areas and residents.     

Interdecadal change in the connection between Hadley circulation and winter temperature in East Asia

Based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, the interdecadal variability of Hadley circulation （HC） and its association with East Asian temperature in winter are investigated. Results indicate that the Northern Hemisphere winter HC underwent apparent change in the 1970s, with transition occurring around 1976/77. Along with interdecadal variability of HC, its linkage to surface air temperature （SAT） in East Asia also varied decadally, from weak relations to strong relations. Such a change may be related to the interaction between HC and the atmospheric circulation system over the Philippines, which is associated with the East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM）. Before the 1970s, the connection between HC and the anticyclonic circulation around the Philippines was insignificant, but after the late 1970s their linkage entered a strong regime. The intensification of this connection may therefore be responsible for the strong relations between HC and East Asian winter temperatures after the late 1970s.     

Reconceptualising adaptation to climate change as part of pathways of change and response

The need to adapt to climate change is now widely recognised as evidence of its impacts on social and natural systems grows and greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. Yet efforts to adapt to climate change, as reported in the literature over the last decade and in selected case studies, have not led to substantial rates of implementation of adaptation actions despite substantial investments in adaptation science. Moreover, implemented actions have been mostly incremental and focused on proximate causes; there are far fewer reports of more systemic or transformative actions. We found that the nature and effectiveness of responses was strongly influenced by framing. Recent decision-oriented approaches that aim to overcome this situation are framed within a “pathways” metaphor to emphasise the need for robust decision making within adaptive processes in the face of uncertainty and inter-temporal complexity. However, to date, such “adaptation pathways” approaches have mostly focused on contexts with clearly identified decision-makers and unambiguous goals; as a result, they generally assume prevailing governance regimes are conducive for adaptation and hence constrain responses to proximate causes of vulnerability. In this paper, we explore a broader conceptualisation of “adaptation pathways” that draws on ‘pathways thinking’ in the sustainable development domain to consider the implications of path dependency, interactions between adaptation plans, vested interests and global change, and situations where values, interests, or institutions constrain societal responses to change. This re-conceptualisation of adaptation pathways aims to inform decision makers about integrating incremental actions on proximate causes with the transformative aspects of societal change. Case studies illustrate what this might entail. The paper ends with a call for further exploration of theory, methods and procedures to operationalise this broader conceptualisation of adaptation.     

Climate change,social vulnerability and child nutrition in South Asia

Despite recent advancements in global population well-being and food security, climate change threatens to undermine child nutritional health, particularly for marginalized populations in tropical low- and middle-income countries. South Asia is at particular risk for climate-driven undernutrition due to a combination of historical weather exposures, existing nutritional deficits, and a lack of sanitation access. Previous studies have established that precipitation extremes increase rates of undernutrition in this region, but the existing literature lacks adequate consideration of temperature anomalies, mediating social factors, and the developmentally-relevant timing of exposure. We combine high-resolution temperature and precipitation data with large-sample survey data on household demographics and child anthropometry, using an approach that incorporates three key developmental periods and a rigorous fixed effects design. We find that precipitation extremes in the first year of life significantly decrease children’s height-for-age (HAZ) in South Asia. The detrimental effects of extreme precipitation are especially concentrated in under-resourced households, such as those lacking access to proper sanitation and education for women, while anomalous heat is particularly harmful for children in Pakistan, though it tends to benefit children in some demographic groups. These results indicate that nutritional status in South Asia is highly responsive to climate exposures, and that addressing sanitation infrastructure and other development priorities is a pathway towards reducing this vulnerability.     

Unveiling hidden migration and mobility patterns in climate stressed regions: A longitudinal study of six million anonymous mobile phone users in Bangladesh

Climate change is likely to drive migration from environmentally stressed areas. However quantifying short and long-term movements across large areas is challenging due to difficulties in the collection of highly spatially and temporally resolved human mobility data. In this study we use two datasets of individual mobility trajectories from six million de-identified mobile phone users in Bangladesh over three months and two years respectively. Using data collected during Cyclone Mahasen, which struck Bangladesh in May 2013, we show first how analyses based on mobile network data can describe important short-term features (hours–weeks) of human mobility during and after extreme weather events, which are extremely hard to quantify using standard survey based research. We then demonstrate how mobile data for the first time allow us to study the relationship between fundamental parameters of migration patterns on a national scale. We concurrently quantify incidence, direction, duration and seasonality of migration episodes in Bangladesh. While we show that changes in the incidence of migration episodes are highly correlated with changes in the duration of migration episodes, the correlation between in- and out-migration between areas is unexpectedly weak. The methodological framework described here provides an important addition to current methods in studies of human migration and climate change.     

1951—2017年鞍山市气温变化特征及城市热岛变化

利用建站以来鞍山站和海城乡村站的一日四次观测数据和逐日平均、最低和最高气温资料,对1951—2017年鞍山市年、四季和各月平均气温和极端气温变化特征及其变率进行了分析,并对鞍山城市热岛变化进行探讨.结果表明:1951—2017年鞍山市年平均最低气温的递增趋势最强、平均气温次之、平均最高气温最弱,且均通过显著性检验.19...     

RegCM3 CORDEX东亚试验模拟和预估的中国夏季温度变化

按照CORDEX (COordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment) 计划试验设计要求,利用中国科学院大气物理研究所全球模式FGOALS-g2的数据驱动区域气候模式RegCM3,针对1986~2005年历史气候和2010~2065年RCP8.5排放情景下气候预估,对东亚地区进行了50 km动力降尺度模拟。首先评估了RegCM3模式及驱动模式FGOALS-g2对1986~2005年夏季中国地表气温和极端高温事件的模拟能力,然后比较了两个模式在RCP8.5排放情景下对中国夏季地表气温和极端高温事件预估的变化,重点分析了动力降尺度结果的优势。结果表明,两个模式均能合理再现夏季中国地表气温和极端高温事件的大尺度气候态特征。相对于全球模式,区域模式由于水平分辨率较高,能在刻画地表气温分布的细节上体现出优势。在RCP8.5排放情景下,两个模式预估的三个地表气温指标均显著升高,到21世纪中期 (2046~2065年),两个模式预估的全国平均地表气温增幅相当,气温日较差变化均较小。在FGOALS-g2模式预估中,到21世纪中期,三个地表气温指标的增幅相当,气温日较差没有明显变化,东北和青藏高原的地表气温增幅最大。在RegCM3模式预估中,到21世纪中期,中国大部分地区日最高气温 (Tmax) 增幅大于日最低气温 (Tmin) 增幅,气温日较差增加;而在青藏高原西部,Tmax的增幅较Tmin偏低,气温日较差减小。在RCP8.5排放情景下,两个模式预估的极端高温事件到21世纪中期也显著增加,RegCM3模式预估的极端高温事件全国平均增幅略高于FGOALS-g2模式的预估。在两个模式的预估中,日最高气温最大值 (TXx)、暖昼指数 (TX90p) 和持续暖期指数 (WSDI) 变化的空间分布特征与Tmax相似;和当代相比TX90p增加了60%以上,而WSDI增加了一倍以上。     

1951～2009年东亚地区日降水趋势特征分析

研究大陆或次大陆尺度日降水长期趋势变化规律,对于检测、理解区域气候和陆地水循环对全球气候变暖的响应特征十分重要。利用美国国家气候资料中心(NCDC)和中国基准气候站、基本气象站网降水观测资料,在对该站点资料进行基本质量控制基础上,选取东亚地区619个站1951～2009年日降水数据,按照百分位阈值对降水进行分级,共分为弱、中、强、极强4个级别,用经纬度网格面积加权平均方法构建区域平均的时间序列,分析了各类降水事件长期变化趋势的时空特征。结果表明:东亚地区近59年平均总降水量表现出不显著下降趋势,降水日数没有出现趋势性变化,平均日降水强度略有减小;区域平均的年降水量、降水日数和日降水强度在中国北方大部、蒙古东部、俄罗斯远东地区南部和日本列岛多呈减少趋势,而在俄罗斯中西伯利亚南部、朝鲜半岛南部和中国长江中下游流域一般表现为增加。从季节上看,近59年东亚区域平均的冬、春季降水量、降水日数和日降水强度均呈增加趋势,而夏、秋季一般呈减少趋势,仅夏季日降水强度略有增加。降水的年内分配出现均匀化趋势。从不同级别降水事件看,近59年来东亚区域平均的各级别降水量均为下降趋势,中降水、强降水和极强降水日数也呈现下降趋势,弱降水日数表现出较明显增加;仅有全区秋季强降水量、日数减少趋势和冬季中降水量、日数增加趋势通过了显著性水平检验。分析还发现,近30年(1980～2009年)东亚地区日降水趋势变化出现了新的特征,主要表现为大部分地区降水日数呈现增加,日降水强度减少,45°N以南多数台站降水量也增加,全区降水有向非极端化方向发展趋势。     

4~5月南亚高压建立早晚年份环流差异及其可能成因

利用1979~2008年NCEP/NCAR逐日再分析资料和向外长波辐射(OLR)资料分析了4~5月南亚高压在中南半岛上空建立早晚年份的环流差异及可能机理。发现南亚高压建立早晚年,对流层高低层环流形势存在显著差异:在对流层高层,偏早年,菲律宾群岛以东洋面上空反气旋环流中心西移速度快,建立完成后,中南半岛上空南亚高压反气旋环流东西范围较宽,整个建立过程时间较长;偏晚年,建立开始前西太平洋上空无闭合的反气旋性环流中心,建立完成后,中南半岛上空南亚高压反气旋环流东西范围较窄,整个建立过程时间较短;在对流层低层,南亚高压建立早晚年风场和海平面气压场都呈现反相的分布形势,与之相联系的Walker环流强度也存在明显差异。中南半岛上空反气旋环流中心生成早晚与中南半岛地区对流建立发展关系密切,当中南半岛地区对流建立发展早时,中南半岛上空反气旋环流中心生成早;反之对流建立发展晚时,中南半岛上空反气旋环流中心生成晚,且中南半岛对流活跃稍早于南亚高压在该地区建立。菲律宾群岛以东洋面上空反气旋环流中心的西移快慢及有无闭合环流中心出现受该区域上空的上升运动和大气非绝热加热作用影响。当菲律宾群岛以东洋面上空的反气旋环流中心西移稳定至130°~145°E这一区域后,非绝热加热的垂直变化对该环流中心的维持及消亡起主要作用。由于前期冬春季节热带太平洋海温的异常分布,引起了后期Walker环流的强弱变化,进而影响了中南半岛至菲律宾群岛以东洋面上空的大气热力状况及上升运动,最终导致南亚高压建立期间环流的演变差异。     

Experience is not enough: A dynamic explanation of the limited adaptation to extreme weather events in public organizations

This study advances theory articulating the micro-level processes behind public organization adaptation to extreme weather. It tackles a persistent puzzle about the limited adaptation to extreme weather among public organizations: why does adaptation remain deficit after public organizations have experienced repeated extreme weather and some catastrophic consequences? We develop a computational agent-based model that integrates extant theory and data from semi-structured interviews of U.S. public transit agency managers, and use the model to investigate how micro-level cognition and behavior interact with environmental constraints to facilitate or impede the diffusion of adaptation. We articulate in greater detail how experience with influential extreme weather events matters to adaptation, highlighting that such experience is insufficient for adaptation to occur. A key insight is that the potential benefits from both increased risk perception and additional financial resources stemming from disaster- or non-disaster-induced opportunities can be underutilized, absent effective coupling between heightened risk perception and availability of resources that creates windows for adaptation. Using this insight, we further identify managerial and policy interventions with maximum leverage to promote adaptation to extreme weather in public organizations. The experiments show that slowing risk perception decay and synchronizing opportunities with extreme weather occurrences can stimulate adaptation.     

Inclusive approaches to urban climate adaptation planning and implementation in the Global South

As cities increasingly engage in climate adaptation planning, many are seeking to promote public participation and facilitate the engagement of different civil society actors. Still, the variations that exist among participatory approaches and the merits and tradeoffs associated with each are not well understood. This article examines the experiences of Quito (Ecuador) and Surat (India) to assess how civil society actors contribute to adaptation planning and implementation. The results showcase two distinct approaches to public engagement. The first emphasizes participation of experts, affected communities, and a wide array of citizens to sustain broadly inclusive programmes that incorporate local needs and concerns into adaptation processes and outcomes. The second approach focuses on building targeted partnerships between key government, private, and civil society actors to institutionalize robust decision-making structures, enhance abilities to raise funds, and increase means to directly engage with local community and international actors. A critical analysis of these approaches suggests more inclusive planning processes correspond to higher climate equity and justice outcomes in the short term, but the results also indicate that an emphasis on building dedicated multi-sector governance institutions may enhance long-term programme stability, while ensuring that diverse civil society actors have an ongoing voice in climate adaptation planning and implementation.

Policy relevance

Many local governments in the Global South experience severe capacity and resource constraints. Cities are often required to devolve large-scale planning and decision-making responsibilities, such as those critical to climate adaptation, to different civil society actors. As a result, there needs to be more rigorous assessments of how civil society participation contributes to the adaptation policy and planning process and what local social, political, and economic factors dictate the way cities select different approaches to public engagement. Also, since social equity and justice are key indicators for determining the effectiveness and sustainability of adaptation interventions, urban adaptation plans and policies must also be designed according to local institutional strengths and civic capacities in order to account for the needs of the poor and most vulnerable. Inclusivity, therefore, is critical for ensuring equitable planning processes and just adaptation outcomes.     

近40年东亚冬季风强度的多时间尺度变化特征及其与气候的关系

文章利用季风强度指数研究了近40年冬季1月份东亚季风强度趋势、年际、十年际变化特征及其与我国冬季天气气候的关系。结果指出,东亚冬季风的年际变化、年代际变化与我国冬季天气气候关系密切。弱冬季风时,我国天气气候是暖、湿;强冬季风时,则冷、干。但是,季风与我国气候在近40年中的趋势变化关系则不如其年际、十年际变化更密切。近40年来,我国冬季气温已明显升高,季风减弱,但不太显著。80年代中期开始,冬季风已明显减弱。此外,还指出,东亚强冬季风时,大气环流具有强WP型、弱EU遥相关型的特征     

Unpacking multilevel adaptation to climate change in the Great Barrier Reef,Australia

Multilevel governance is regarded as a promising approach to deal with the multidimensional nature of climate change adaptation. However, the policy context in which it is implemented is very often complex and fragmented, characterised by interacting climate and non-climate strategies. An understanding of multilevel decision-making and governance is particularly important, if desired adaptation outcomes are to be achieved. This paper examines how climate change adaptation takes place in a complex multilevel system of governance, in the context of Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region. It examines over one hundred adaptation strategies at federal, state, regional and local levels in terms of type, manifestation, purposefulness, drivers and triggers, and geographic and temporal scope. Interactions between strategies are investigated both at the same level of governance and across governance levels. This study demonstrates that multilevel approach is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition in responding to complex multiscale and multisector issues, such as climate change adaptation. Short-term adaptation measures; a predominant incremental, sectoral, top-down approach to adaptation; and the lack of a framework for managing interactions are major threats to effective climate adaptation in the GBR region. Coping with such threats will require long-term transformative action, establishing enabling conditions to support local adaptation, and, most important, creating and maintaining strategic interactions among adaptation strategies. Coordinating and integrating climate and non-climate strategies across jurisdictions and policy sectors are the most significant and challenging tasks for multilevel governance in the GBR region and elsewhere.     

2000—2020年呼伦贝尔地区归一化植被指数时空变化及其对气候的响应

利用2000—2020年MOD13Q1和气象观测数据,结合Sen趋势分析、M-K显著性检验、变异系数、Hurst指数、相关系数等对呼伦贝尔地区归一化植被指数(NDVI)时空变化及气候响应进行分析。结果表明：呼伦贝尔地区多年生长季平均NDVI为0.63,平均年变化倾向率为0.028/10 a,大部分地区呈增加趋势,其中大兴安岭森林大部及岭西耕地增加显著。呼伦贝尔地区生长季NDVI的平均变异系数为0.08,其中呼伦贝尔草原西部的波动较大。Hurst指数表明,呼伦贝尔地区生长季NDVI整体变化呈反持续性趋势,结合现有NDVI变化趋势,未来将呈下降趋势,对生态环境的保护工作较为不利。大兴安岭森林生长季NDVI与气温呈正相关,耕地与草原区呈负相关,而呼伦贝尔大部分地区的生长季NDVI与降水普遍呈正相关,其中呼伦贝尔草原和大兴安岭两麓耕地的生长季NDVI与降水相关显著,说明气温是制约北部大兴安岭森林生长的主要因素,而降水是制约呼伦贝尔草原生态平衡和农牧业发展的主要因素。     

Land response to atmosphere at different resolutions in the common land model over East Asia

Towards a better understanding of hydrological interactions between the land surface and atmosphere, land surface models are routinely used to simulate hydro-meteorological fluxes. However, there is a lack of observations available for model forcing, to estimate the hydro-meteorological fluxes in East Asia. In this study, Common Land Model (CLM) was used in offline-mode during the summer monsoon period of 2006 in East Asia, with different forcings from Asiaflux, Korea Land Data Assimilation System (KLDAS), and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), at point and regional scales, separately. The CLM results were compared with observations from Asiaflux sites. The estimated net radiation showed good agreement, with r =0.99 for the point scale and 0.85 for the regional scale. The estimated sensible and latent heat fluxes using Asiaflux and KLDAS data indicated reasonable agreement, with r = 0.70. The estimated soil moisture and soil temperature showed similar patterns to observations, although the estimated water fluxes using KLDAS showed larger discrepancies than those of Asiaflux because of scale mismatch. The spatial distribution of hydro-meteorological fluxes according to KLDAS for East Asia were compared to the CLM results with GLDAS, and the GLDAS provided online. The spatial distributions of CLM with KLDAS were analogous to CLM with GLDAS, and the standalone GLDAS data. The results indicate that KLDAS is a good potential source of high spatial resolution forcing data. Therefore, the KLDAS is a promising alternative product, capable of compensating for the lack of observations and low resolution grid data for East Asia.     

帕米尔高原东部径流量变化及其对气候变化的响应

水资源是制约中国西北干旱区社会经济可持续发展和生态安全的关键因素.以发源于帕米尔高原东部的喀什噶尔河和叶尔羌河流域为研究区,基于该区6个气象站月平均气温和降水量观测资料,以及5条代表性河流的出山口水文站1950年代晚期以来的月径流量观测数据,分析了该区域气候和水文年际变化特征,以及气候变化背景下径流量的响应特征.结果发...     

Overcoming barriers to climate change information management in small island developing states: lessons from pacific SIDS

We live in a rapidly advancing digital information age where the ability to discover, access and utilize high-quality information in a reliable and timely manner is often assumed to be the norm. However, this is not always the experience of researchers, practitioners and decision makers responding to the challenges of a rapidly changing climate, despite the billions now being made available for investment in climate change adaptation initiatives throughout the world and particularly in developing countries. In recognition of the importance of information in adaptation planning, Article 7.7 of the Paris Agreement sets out clear guidance for parties to develop, share, manage and deliver climate change knowledge, information and data as a means to strengthening cooperation and action on adaptation. This article provides some key lessons and insights on climate change information and knowledge management (IKM) in small island developing States (SIDS) from the perspective of Pacific SIDS. A situation analysis of current climate change IKM practices in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu was conducted and key barriers to effective climate change IKM identified. The outcome of this article is a range of pragmatic policy considerations for overcoming common barriers to climate change IKM in the Pacific, which may be of value to SIDS more widely.

Key policy insights

• The partnership approach of co-investigating climate change IKM barriers in collaboration with Pacific SIDS generated considerable trust, a shared purpose and therefore rich IKM lessons and insights.

• Turning climate change IKM aspirations into practice is significantly more complicated than expected, and requires a long-term commitment from both national governments and development partners.

• Pacific SIDS need to establish national guiding climate change IKM Frameworks that leverage rather than duplicate growing national investments in whole-of-government IKM.

• Reframing climate change IKM in the Pacific towards demand and user needs will be critical to ensuring widespread ownership and participation in IKM solutions that lead to greater adaptation and resilience outcomes.

• It is also critical that IKM activities in SIDS support the development of national capacity to scope, develop, deploy and maintain decision support systems.

• Federated IKM systems are ideal for encouraging greater IKM collaboration.

     

Power interplay between actors: using material and ideational resources to shape local adaptation plans of action (LAPAs) in Nepal

Deliberation over how to adapt to short or long-term impacts of climate change takes place in a complex political setting, where actors’ interests and priorities shape the temporal dimension of adaptation plans, policies and actions. As actors interact to pursue their individual or collective interests, these struggles turn into dynamic power interplay. In this article, we aim to show how power interplay shapes local adaptation plans of action (LAPAs) in Nepal to be short-term and reactive. We use an interactional framing approach through interaction analyses and observations to analyse how actors use material and ideational resources to pursue their interests. Material and ideational resources that an actor deploys include political authority, knowledge of adaptation science and national/local policy-making processes, financial resources and strong relations with international non-governmental organizations and donor agencies. We find that facilitators and local politicians have a very prominent role in meetings relating to LAPAs, resulting in short-termism of LAPAs. Findings suggest that there is also a lack of female participation contributing to short-term orientated plans. We conclude that such power interplay analysis can help to investigate how decision making on the temporal aspects of climate adaptation policy takes place at the local level.

Key policy insights

• Short-termism of LAPAs is attributed to the power interplay between actors during the policy design process.

• Improved participation of the most vulnerable, especially women, can lead to the preparation of adaptation plans and strategies focusing on both the short and long-term.

• It is pertinent to consider power interplay in the design and planning of adaptation policy in order to create a level-playing field between actors for inclusive decision-making.

• Analysis of dynamic power interplay can help in investigating climate change adaptation controversies that are marked by uncertainties and ambiguities.

     

Interannual heat content variability in the South China Sea and its response to ENSO

The interannual variability of upper ocean heat content (OHC) in the South China Sea (SCS) for the period of 1987–2006 and its response to ENSO events are investigated. It is found that the variability has a good correspondence with ENSO events, but with opposite phase. Negative OHC anomalies appear during ENSO warm phases, while positive OHC anomalies occur during ENSO cool phases. In addition, negative (positive) OHC anomalies propagate westward obviously during ENSO warm (cool) phases in the northern SCS. In contrast, OHC anomalies in the southern SCS do not exhibit distinct westward propagation during ENSO events. To explore why the OHC anomalies cannot propagate westward in the southern SCS, the interannual variability of oceanic and atmospheric anomaly fields including wind stress curl (WSC), horizontal wind stress, latent heat flux (LHF) and sea level pressure (SLP) is investigated. The results show that after a mature phase of ENSO warm (cool) event, negative (positive) OHC anomalies first appear in the northern SCS, which comes from the western Pacific through Luzon Strait. Then cyclonic (anticyclonic) wind stress anomalies occur in the northern SCS, which leads to positive (negative) WSC anomalies. Meanwhile, positive (negative) LHF anomalies which correspond to oceanic heat loss (gain) occur in this region. The effects of WSC and LHF, combined with the westward propagating negative (positive) OHC anomalies from the western Pacific, may contribute to rapid growth and propagation of the OHC anomalies in the northern SCS. On the contrary, the negative (positive) WSC and LHF anomalies associated with positive (negative) SLP in the southern SCS seem to be the important processes responsible for the weakening and non-propagation of the OHC anomalies in the southern SCS after a mature phase of ENSO warm (cool) event.