Climate Impacts

This aspect of Climate Affairs refers to the impacts of climate behavior on ecosystems and on societies. Ecosystems can be subdivided into managed ecosystems (e.g., agricultural and rangelands) and unmanaged ones (some forests, mangroves and wetlands). The impacts of climate variations on different time scales will have different effects on the structures and functions of ecosystems.

The impacts on society can also be subdivided into direct and indirect impacts on human activities. Impacts of climate and climate-related anomalies on society are of greatest concern to the general public and to their governments. Such impacts can negatively or positively affect food production, water resource availability, fishery abundance, public health and public welfare in general. Although, for example, a drought may occur over a few months during a growing season, its adverse impacts on a society can linger for years.

The severity of the impacts of climate and climate-related variations and anomalies, however, is not simply the result of the intensity of adverse climatic conditions. It is also a function of the level of vulnerability of a society to climate-related hazards. For example, the time for recovery from the impacts of a tropical cyclone, drought, or an El Niño-related bush or forest fire will also depend on the level of resilience of the environment and of a society. The impacts of two similar extreme events in the same location but at different times will likely vary, depending on what socio-economic factors are dominating the society at those particular times. In this context, developing countries are particularly vulnerable because of the lack of sufficient economic and human resources with which to respond, as well as because of an absence of the appropriate institutions and infrastructure to cope effectively with such problems.

• climate science
• climate impacts
• climate policy and law
• climate politics
• climate economics
• climate ethics and equity