2 - Adaptation

Question 1

Define adaptation.

Answer 1

The act of adjusting to current or future climate change impacts

Question 2

Name an example of the impact of climate change on flooding.

Answer 2

Bloschl et al.(2017) - plotted changes in river flood timing in Europe between 1960 and 2010 - found that areas like Western Europe are getting flooding up to two weeks earlier now than in 1960 whilst areas such as the Balkans are getting flodding up to two weeks later

Question 3

Name an example of the impact of climate change on heatwaves.

Answer 3

Carelton et al.(2020) - found that the climate crisis is to blame for at least 1,500 UK heatwave deaths since 2000

Question 4

Name and detail an example of a NbS for adapting to droughts.

Answer 4

Great Green Wall, Sahara - conceived in 2007 as ‘tree wall’ to counter desertification - aims to sequester 250 mtC and plant an 8000km long tree wall by 2030(Goffner et al., 2019)

Question 5

Name an example of a NbS to adapt to wildfires.

Answer 5

Forest management - forests with low levels of tree density and surface fuel loads can prevent wildfires from spreading to large extent(Davies et al., 2016) - could be used in Peak District where 399 wildfires took place between June 1976 & December 2008(Davies et al., 2024)

Question 6

Explain a counter argument to the example of a NbS to adapt to wildfires.

Answer 6

In order to enact effective forest management from a climate change perspective, surface fuel loads - peat - would have to be removed en masse - this would severely reduce tourism in the Peak District and would be likely to have a negative cost-benefit analysis

Question 7

Name an example of an NbS to adapt to storms.

Answer 7

(Menendez et al., 2020) - Globally, mangroves provide flood protection worth > $65bn/yr to >15m people as they can absorb up to 80% of incoming wave energy

Question 8

Name an example of a NbS to adapt to heatwaves.

Answer 8

Urban tree planting - London’s urban forest was estimated to reduce urban heat island mortality by 16% between 2015-22 & increasing tree coverage by 10% would have reduced this rate by a further 10%(Taylor et al., 2024)

Question 9

Name an example of a NbS to adapt to flooding.

Answer 9

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems(SUDS) - alternative to direct channeling of surface water by imitating natural drainage processes - an example of one of these SUDS is the 517m(2) wetlands that holds up to 177m(3) of water, which is connected to two surface water sewers(Ribble Rivers Trust, 2024)

Question 10

Name an example of a community-based urban NbS.

Answer 10

Bicentenary park(Parque Bicentenario) in Quito - former airport - provides residents with access to nature & recreation with adaptive benefits to temperature regulation and run-off + previously sealed surfaces replaced with novel ecosystems(e.g. lakes and urban forests) - largest green area in Quito